Hearts Break Uneven
by drumbjo
Summary: All human story - Sookie is left holding the baby following a devastating split from Eric. Will she be able to win him back, will he move on without her? Full of angst and a smattering of citrus.
1. Chapter 1

_So this is my next story. _

_Its all human and I will be swapping between the present day and the past to explain the events that have happened before. If you've read my other story _Dead, In Love_ you will know that I'm a fan of angst, and this is likely to be a rough ride - so don't say that I didn't warn you._

_I hope you like it, however!_

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I was exhausted, physically and emotionally, but as the nurse placed the tiny bundle that was my son into my arms I realised how worth the last 27 hours of labour had been. He was perfect. Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, the cutest button nose, a covering of blonde hair and beautiful big blue eyes. Eric's eyes. I felt like I had a wooden stake driven through my heart when I realised just how much he looked like his father. It was a cruel irony that this beautiful little man in my arms would look exactly like the man who had spurned me. When we first started dating his younger sister, Pam, had taken delight in showing me the baby photos of Eric along with many other embarrassing photos of him as a child, but it was evident just quite how much like his father my son looked.

As I contemplated this irony the tears spilled from my eyes at an almighty pace, running down my cheeks and pooling at my chin before dripping onto my dressing gown and forming a damp patch. I was going to be a 27-year-old single mom. I looked up briefly as Amelia re-entered the room looking as chipper as ever.

"Hey, Sookie, you should be happy! Your son is perfect, you have done so well! I know there's no way I could have done what you just have! Hell, after seeing that there is no way I'm ever having children, possibly ever having sex again! They should show videos of that in elementary school, it would halve the teenage pregnancy rates immediately!"

I appreciated Amelia's attempts at cheering me up, and I could not help a smile as she said her piece. She leaned over to the pair of us and wrapped an arm around me while fawning over the boy in my arms.

"He really is beautiful. Have you thought of a name?"

I had decided the name I wanted as soon as I knew I was going to have a boy, yet had kept it to myself for the fear of something going horribly wrong.

"I'm going to call him Oskar James Eric Stackhouse."

Amelia smiled, "That's cute. He looks like an Oskar." She leaned down closer to him and put her little finger in his tiny hand, shaking it gently. "It's nice to meet you, Oskar. Welcome to the world. I promise you that Aunt Amelia will always be here for you." She leaned back in her chair and turned to face me, her face serious again. I knew what she was going to say. "He's not Northman then?"

I let out a deep sigh. "No. I'm not going to name Eric on the birth certificate. He's refused to believe me that our baby is his, so I'm not using his surname."

"You're calling him Eric though as a middle name …" She trailed off not knowing how to finish that sentence.

"I know, I just … I just want some part of Eric to be in him if I can't use his surname."

"Isn't Oskar a very Swedish name?"

I had deliberately chosen a name I knew that Eric would approve of, even though it was not something we had ever discussed. He had been born in Stockholm and moved to the States when he was eight years old but had always been proud of his heritage. "Yes, I wanted to give him a name Eric would like. Assuming he ever talks to me again, that is." I was feeling sorry for myself and couldn't help pouting a little.

"You should call him."

"I know that. I just need to compose myself first. I'm not looking forward to that phone call. But he's also made it perfectly clear that he will not acknowledge Oskar as his son until I've done a paternity test. I'm just not sure that I can go through all that again. I _know_ that I haven't slept with anyone other than him. Ever. Yet he can't believe me. He thinks that I cheated on him, that he's the wounded party. I don't want to do the paternity test, I want Eric to believe me that I didn't cheat on him, and that Oskar is his son."

My tears were falling hard and fast and my breathing had become ragged as I sobbed into Amelia's arms. "Of course you do, Sook, but he's been led to believe that you cheated on him. It's not totally his fault. You need to do the test so he believes for sure that Oskar is his. That way the two of you can restart a relationship and work out what is best for your son."

She was right, my boy needed two parents not one who had no idea what she was doing and no close family. At least Eric had his parents and sister, I had no one since Jason had abandoned me for the same reasons that Eric had. But the problem was that I knew Eric did not want the relationship we used to have. He honestly thought that I had cheated on him, and even though this was his son it was not going to change the fact that in his eyes I was unfaithful to him.

I can remember being in love with Eric since I first really started noticing boys, and had known him since I was five years old. He was a friend of Jason's through school although were both three years older than me. He'd always been much taller than the other boys and stood out from the crowd. I think every girl at our school was in love with him, not just me, and he never had a shortage of girlfriends. I always felt privileged that he used to come over to our house, my Gran making home cooked meals for Eric, Jason and I. I used to relish those days as he had no option but to talk to me when I asked him a question, as Gran had told him off more than once for not being civil to me. But he never offered anything to me without me asking him first, and in general I was invisible to him.

I was devastated when Jason and Eric left to go to college at LSU, the house feeling empty with just Gran and I. My parents had died when I was just seven in a flash flood and we had been living with Gran ever since. But after a few weeks of moping around I threw myself back into my studies and after a few years started working part-time at Merlottes washing dishes and clearing tables to earn a little extra cash. I also had a brief high school romance with the Sam Merlotte who was the son of the owners. He was only a year older than me and I knew he'd always been sweet on me, but I never had eyes for anyone other than Eric Northman. Sam was opportunistic to say the least, and with Eric out of the way he moved in to subtly seduce me. But it didn't last long, Sam was always like a lost puppy wanting attention. He was constantly vying for my attention and I soon got very fed up with it and ended our relationship before it had ever really started.

I lived my days for weeks when Eric and Jason would return to Bon Temps, though I never saw that much of him as Jason made a point of going out when he was with Eric, or being at his house which was much larger and more expensive than our own farmhouse. And if Eric was around it was remarkable how popular I became. I had always been fairly quiet with a few close friends such as Tara Thornton, but as soon as Eric came over the likes of Dawn Greene and Selah Pumphrey (neither of who I'd ever liked) wanted to be my best friend. I was glad, however, that Eric saw through their false façade. In general, things hadn't changed. Whenever I saw him he was civil enough, but I was always just Jason's younger sister.

I was desperately trying to get over my infatuation with him, and I was looking forward to going to college, even if I was going to the same place as Eric and Jason. I was under no illusion that me being at LSU would affect anything between us, and as I was going to be freshmen with them seniors I certainly didn't expect them to take any notice of me. I was looking forward to being independent of my family, and although I would miss Gran hugely she knew how much I was looking forward to going to college and supported me the whole way. Jason and I had been lucky that our parents life insurance money would pay for us to get through college, with some left over for each of us. Jason had already spent most of his on various cars, but I had always wanted to travel through Europe when I graduated so saved my money for that.

I quickly found that I absolutely loved the freedom of college, being out in the world on my own. I enjoyed studying, making new friends and partying. I always knew my major was going to be English, but I also loved psychology and studied French, which I was surprisingly good at. It was towards the end of my first year at LSU that I met John Quinn. He was a senior, incredibly tall and broad, and had the most unusual purple eyes and shaved head. He was strangely beautiful and very charming and I found myself drawn to him immediately. I first met him in the library one evening when I was studying late for an essay that was due at the end of the week. I couldn't draw my eyes away from him, and after chatting quietly for a few minutes we agreed to meet and grab a coffee at the weekend. Even though my mind immediately made comparisons between him and Eric, he faired a lot better than every other male I had ever met.

We hit it off straight away, he was smart and he made me laugh. We had a few lunch dates, meeting on campus when we both had classes, and our first 'proper' date was going to be to a house party of one of his friends the following Friday night. I was a little wary about going to a senior party, but as my friends were very jealous that I was going I was determined to enjoy myself.

I put on my trusty little black dress with a pair of fabulous blue pumps and minimal accessories. My hair was softly curled around my shoulders with a few matching blue hair clips. Quinn came and picked me up at nine and we drove to the house, chatting along the way to calm my nerves. As soon as we entered the house Quinn got me a drink of a rather strong gin and tonic and we sat down and chatted to some of his friends. I was instantly incredibly uncomfortable, and I did not like the way that his friends were looking at me – it was almost predatorily. I looked to Quinn for some comfort or assistance, but got none. Instead, Quinn kept on supplying me with drink and when I tried to refuse him saying I'd drunk enough and just wanted water he got a little angry and was insistent on me drinking more. I knew that things were not going well, and I tried to leave but was held back by Quinn as he kissed me hard, pinning me back against the sofa.

When I awoke the next morning I was in an unfamiliar bed and I had a thumping headache. As I looked around the room I realised that I wasn't at home and I was no longer wearing my dress but rather a large man's t-shirt. I instantly panicked trying my absolute best to try and remember what happened the night before. The last thing I truly remembered was being roughly kissed by Quinn on the sofa as he manhandled me, groping my breasts through my dress and running his hand up legs. Did I have sex with him? Wouldn't I remember if I did? I was disgusted that I may have lost my virginity to Quinn when I was not sober. Was it rape if I didn't know anything about it? I curled up into a ball under the covers within the huge bed and could not stop my body convulsing as I sobbed. How had I got myself into this mess? I should have known not to come to a senior party – Jason had warned me that seniors sometimes see first year girls as some kind of sport.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door being opened and shut again. I tried to stay quiet to pretend that I was still asleep so I could have some time to work out what the hell I could do to get out of there.

"Sookie, I know you're awake. I brought you some coffee." The voice was deep and baritone, but it wasn't Quinn's. "Sook, its okay. It's Eric. Come, drink your coffee. I also have some Tylenol for your head."

What the hell was Eric doing here? Was Eric a friend of Quinn's? Whose bed was I actually in? I tried to compose myself and dried my face on the sleeve of the huge t-shirt as I peered out from underneath the covers to see the one and only Eric Northman looking down at me with kind eyes. I sat up in the bed and tried to smooth my hair down, I could only imagine what state my face was in considering I hadn't removed any of my make up. He handed me a cup of much needed coffee along with the two tablets to help cure my hangover.

Eric said nothing but rather stood rooted to the spot watching me drink from the mug. I had never felt more exposed then I was at the moment under Eric's eyes. After a few gulps I summoned the courage to look back up at him to see concern in his eyes. I knew then that I was safe with him but I had no idea what had happened the night before. He sat down on the end of the bed facing me.

"Eric, what happened? Why am I here?"

"You don't remember?" I shook my head. "What's the last thing you do remember?"

I explained the last thing I could remember was Quinn somewhat forcibly kissing me on the sofa, but I left out the bit about him groping me. For some reason that was not something I wanted to tell the man I had known since I was five years old and who I was crazily in love with. Eric was looking at me with compassionate eyes, and I had a feeling he was going to tell me something I didn't want to hear.

"Sook, this is my room you're in. You spent last night here with me, but before you panic, I can assure you nothing happened. I put you in one of my t-shirts before removing your dress and I its a big bed, I promise I didn't touch you." Tears were already rolling down my cheeks – I really did not remember any of this – but he carried on regardless. "The party was going on in the house but I was late in coming back as I was on a date."

I tried not to let myself get bothered by that piece of information, but as I was lying in his bed in his t-shirt I couldn't help it. "So, was the party at your house?"

"Yes, it was a party to celebrate the end of our college life before our finals. Sook, I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier and I'm sorry I never warned you about John Quinn." I gasped slightly as he spoke about my date. "Quinn has a reputation amongst seniors for bedding any attractive first year he can find. I should have known that if he ever met you he would set his sights on you. Did he know your surname?"

I thought for a moment. "No, I don't think I ever told him. Does he know Jason?"

"He does, and Jason has always disliked him as much as I do. Now I want to kill him and I'm certain your brother will."

I needed to know what happened. "Eric, please tell me what happened." I took another sip of my coffee as I looked at him grimace slightly.

"When I came in I saw that Quinn had half removed your dress, his hands all over you. He was kissing you, but he also had quite the audience. It was obvious that you were by no means aware of what was happening and I felt my blood boil. I'd had words with him before about him treating women in this way, and I certainly didn't want it happening in my house, at my party. As I went to kick him out I realised that it was you he was doing it to and I saw red. I pulled Quinn off you and kicked the shit out of him before pushing him out of the house. I'm afraid I caused a scene and drew attention to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I was not going to let Quinn touch you in that way."

His eyes were burning as he spoke, his anger reignited from the night before. I was shocked to hear his words, and terrified of what might have happened had Quinn not been interrupted. I was also amazed that of all people it was Eric who was my saviour. Sure, I had known him for a long time, but we had never really spoken to each other when Gran or Jason weren't around. But that reminded me, where was Jason? I knew that Eric and Jason had shared a large house with a bunch of other seniors, so why was it Eric not Jason that came to my rescue? I asked Eric this question.

"Jason is in New Orleans for the weekend with his girlfriend, Amy. It was Jason that originally planned this party, but Amy had also planned a surprise get away for him and he didn't want to upset her by telling her he couldn't go. I haven't told him yet what happened, I thought I'd check with you first."

I was grateful that Eric hadn't told Jason as I was worried that he'd want to leave New Orleans straight away to come to me, and I wanted him to have his fun. "What happened after you kicked Quinn out?" I asked softly.

"Well, my outburst was a rather sobering event on the festivities, and I brought you up to my room as I explained. Once I knew you were okay I did go back downstairs for a while but I was concerned about you. I can't say my date was too impressed, and I think she may have left with someone else." He had a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I'm sorry Eric. I didn't mean for my stupidity and naivety to ruin your …"

He interrupted my words. "Don't be silly, Sookie, your well-being is much more important than than dunce I was with last night. I'm just glad that you're okay. I wouldn't have been able to have forgive myself if anything had happened to you. I wouldn't have wanted John Quinn to be your first, particularly in those circumstances."

I was traumatised and felt my face flush. I did not want to talk about my sex life, or lack thereof, with the subject of my fantasy for how ever long I can remember. And I really didn't want to know exactly how he knew I was a virgin. I tried to hide my face in my hands and suddenly felt very exposed sat in Eric's bed wearing only my panties and one of his large t-shirts. I pulled the covers up closer around me and scooted to the edge of the bed against the wall.

He almost had a flash of hurt in his eyes as I moved away from him. "Sookie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. You've always been Jason's kid sister to me, I've always felt quite protective towards you as I would my own sister. I would never want anything to happen to you. Please come here?" He held open his arms and when I made the move towards him he met me half way and pulled me close to him in a tight embrace. He smelled incredible, manly and earthy with a slight smell of his spicy aftershave. As I breathed him in I was almost sure that he did the same to me, but I could not be certain. As I was hugging him I was committing the moment to memory to be ever replayed in my fantasies where Eric and I were together. I rested my head on his shoulder as our embrace lasted longer then it necessarily needed to, neither one of us seemingly wanting the moment to end. We were interrupted, however, my Eric's phone going off and he pulled away to answer it.

"Jason, how's New Orleans? … she's okay, I promise … I kicked Quinn's ass for what he did to her … I haven't spoken to her about that … here she is."

Eric handed me his phone with a gentle and almost apologetic smile, and I take it from him expecting a barrage from my brother.

"Sook, are you okay? I'm going to kill him for doing that to you. Are you sure you're alright? Eric's been looking after you right?" Jason's voice was anxious as he spoke to me but his anger was also apparent.

"I'm fine Jase, Eric got to me in time. Quinn didn't do anything …"

"Sook, he was feeling you up and probably would have raped you if someone hadn't stopped him. I don't call that nothing."

Jason was furious, but as his words sunk in of how bad things with Quinn could have been I started sobbing, my breathing laboured as a I struggled for breath between sobs. Eric came and sat next to me on the bed and wrapped his huge arms around me, my tears staining his t-shirt as I buried my face into his chest.

"Sook, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you more. You're going to need to go to the police. He can't get away with this kind of thing. There are plenty of other girls who haven't been so lucky."

"Are … are you coming back?" I didn't want to ruin Jason's weekend away but I didn't think I could face going to the police station on my own.

"I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, but Eric will go with you. No one expects you to have to do this on your own. I love you, Sook, I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'll see you tomorrow, and you may also want to call Gran, I called her before I called you, she's probably having a fit. Put Eric back on"

I looked up at Eric and handed him the phone. They chatted quietly but I zoned out, not listening to what Eric was saying. I just couldn't believe what had happened to me, and now I had to recount my story to the police with Eric sat there as well. I was incredibly grateful that it was a friendly face that had rescued me, and I dreaded to think what would have happened if Eric hadn't arrived. I was interrupted from my thoughts by Eric calling my name.

"Sookie … Sookie, are you in there?" He smiled softly at me. "Come, lets get changed. I'll drive you back to your dorm so you can shower and change and then we'll go to the police. I probably have some clothes somewhere that will fit you." He ruffled through the bottom of his huge closet before pulling our a pair of women's tracksuit bottoms and a plain black t-shirt.

I was intrigued. "How exactly do you have women's clothes in your closet? They don't look your size!" I smiled for the first time in what felt like a very long time.

He pulled an innocent expression, but it was obvious he was guilty as hell. "A girl may have left them here once. I can assure you they're clean. I kept that as I have a little bit of a habit of ripping clothes in the heat of the moment! I guess I figured they would be useful to have. I never imagined they would be used in these circumstances though." His face went a little sombre as I looked up to him. However I also noticed that I had clearly ruined his own t-shirt from my tears.

"I'm afraid I've ruined your shirt!"

He looked down at his t-shirt, shrugged his shoulders and then removed it in one fluid movement. His chest was incredible, and despite the events of the previous night I could not help myself but ogle him. I watched as his taught arm muscles moved under his tanned skin, and down to his perfect pecs and abs that looked like they'd been sculpted by a master craftsman. I had never seen a man so perfect even in fashion magazines, and I was quite certain that they were digitally altered. The man was a God.

He laughed when he saw me staring at him and threw his dirty t-shirt at me. "Seriously, Sookie, you'd think that you've never seen a man before!" In that instance I seriously felt like hadn't seen a man before him. Before I knew it he had put on a new t-shirt and leaned over to a small mirror on the wall to check his already perfect shoulder length, thick, blonde hair. "The bathroom's through there, I'll let you get ready in peace."

He held out his hand to me and I scooted to the edge of the bed and took his hand, feeling a little unsteady on my feet. Eric's t-shirt nearly came down to my knees, so my modesty was covered as I made my way to his en-suite bathroom. After closing and locking the door I leaned against it trying to gain some composure. The events of the last night and morning were somewhat shocking, but here I was in Eric's bedroom having spent the night in the same bed with him, even if I couldn't remember any of it. I looked into the mirror with trepidation, scared of what I might find. However I was quite relieved to see that I didn't look as horrific as I thought I might have – had Eric removed my make-up? I cleaned myself up as best I could and stole some of his mouthwash before pulling on the clothes. They were a snug fit and I imagined that most of the girls Eric entertained did not have my curvy physique, but were rather stick-insect thin model wannabes.

Eric was waiting for me as I exited the bathroom and smiled as he handed me my heels and handbag. He took my hand and led me out of his room, and to my luck we didn't meet any of his house mates as we left the house. It was a large, three-storey place with Eric's room being at the very top. Once outside we got into Eric's flashy red corvette and he drove me to my room where I had the world's quickest shower, got changed and phoned Gran to let her know that I was okay. When I got back outside to where Eric's car was waiting I wasn't surprised to see that about six girls had congregated around his car, and I felt strangely smug when I got to push my way past them. Eric opened the door for me from the inside to let me climb in and he rolled up his window to end his conversation abruptly with an attractive brunette who was fawning over him.

"You shouldn't do that,"

"Do what?" He looked genuinely surprised at what I was asking.

"Just end a conversation like that. That poor girl was hanging on your every word."

"Of course she wasn't" He started up the car and we left the parking lot.

"I can assure you she was. You have no idea the effect you have on women." I was almost snapping at him and I had no idea why I was sticking up for that girl, but she looked so heart-broken when he ignored her. And I was absolutely certain that I'd had that same expression on my face many a time when it came to him.

"I know that I affect women in a very positive way," he had a huge smirk on his face as he drove, but he looked so absolutely beautiful I could not fault him for it. He'd probably slept with hundreds of women and I was sure it could have been thousands if he'd had every woman that threw herself at him. "But what affect do you I have on you, Sookie?" His voice was pure sex and I was certain that my heart stopped for a brief second. I looked over to him to see if he was serious, and the look on his face proved to me that he was.

I didn't know how to answer that one. Did he know that I'd been in love with him since day one? I'd always imagined that Jason would have embarrassed me by telling Eric that I liked him. What the hell was I going to say? I knew I had to say something.

"I … uh … well, I …." I was stuttering, hoping that Eric would change the subject.

But Eric had pulled the car in and turned to face me. "Tell me, Sookie. Please." I was shocked by his words, by the look in his eyes as he regarded me and by the fact that he took my hand in his huge one and held it securely in his hands, stroking his thumb over the back of my hand. My heart was racing and I could feel my blood pulsing through my now hyper-aware sex. "Please don't be shy with me, Sookie, we've known each other a long time."

I had absolutely no idea what was happening. Why was Eric so interested in what I felt for him? I took a deep breath to compose myself, looked up into his eyes and forced myself to answer. "Eric … I like you. A lot. I've liked you for as long as I can remember. I …" I didn't know what else to say and turned away from him to face out of the passenger window, pulling my hand from his grip. I couldn't believe I had just done that, embarrassed myself in that way. At least now I knew he would never talk to me again.

"Sookie. Sookie, please, look at me?" He took my hand again and brought it to his mouth. His lips were soft and gentle on my hand as I turned to him, a solitary tear dropping down my cheek. "When I saw you with Quinn I realised it wasn't just hatred of him, but jealousy that he was with you. I've never felt jealous before, I've never had to, but in that instance I was green with envy. I wanted you to be with me. I've always cared for you, even if I haven't especially shown it to you. I'm sorry, Sook, I know I was never pleasant to you when we were growing up. But please know that I like you too, a lot, and I'd like us to get to know each other better. And I understand that this really is incredibly bad timing considering what happened to you last night, but I will take it slow if you will agree to spend time with me."

Agree? Was he crazy? I honestly thought that I was going to pass out, and was glad when Eric opened the window to let a bit of air in to the increasingly small corvette. Was Eric Northman seriously asking _me_ out? His perfect sapphire blue eyes were intent upon my own and I felt like he was hypnotizing me. I finally found my voice.

"I'd like that, Eric, thank you."

He smiled a beautiful smile, and leaned in to kiss me softly on the cheek. "I look forward to that very much." He restarted the car and we drove to the police station where we both gave statements about what happened. I was concerned that Eric was going to get in trouble for the beating he gave Quinn, but he underplayed it slightly and they were more interested in what Quinn did to me than what Eric did to him. After a few hours at the police station Eric drove me back to my dorm and walked me to the door, giving me a tender kiss on my head as he pulled me into a hug.

"Take care, Sookie, Jason will want to see you tomorrow to make sure that you're okay. I think we should keep this between us for now, I think Jason may try and kick my ass if he knows I'm moving in on his sister." He grinned at me and gave me a sexy wink. He was quite right that Jason would hit the roof if he knew about anything happening between Eric and I, but I also feared that Eric would completely destroy my heart if I got closer to him and then he was to hurt me. But I looked forward to something happening with Eric and wondered what the future would hold for us.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all for your great reviews, it makes me very happy!

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It was two days later that I returned to the huge town house I shared with Amelia in Manhattan. The house had been bought by Amelia's father, who was a property developer, builder, businessman and multi-millionaire. The Brownstone was far too large for the two of us, but I was glad that Amelia didn't want to get more house-mates. And she certainly didn't need the income as her father had bought the house outright, so we only split the bills between us. It meant that there was plenty of room for Oskar, though he would be spending his time in my room at first. Luckily Amelia and I had left an empty floor between her and my rooms so at least she would not be disturbed when he woke in the night.

After I fled Louisiana, New York was the obvious option to me - it was a place where I could be anonymous, where no one knew me, where no one would bother me. When I first arrived I booked myself into a hotel and didn't leave my room for three days solid. I couldn't face eating and I merely worked my way through the mini bar. I was miserable, and very seriously contemplated suicide. But just because Gran and Jason weren't talking to me now, I knew that me killing myself was not the option as they would both be devastated. And it would make me look guilty, which I for one knew that I was not.

After I woke up with a hell of a hangover on the fourth day I dragged myself out of my hotel room and grabbed some breakfast at a nearby diner. I had picked up a newspaper one the way and scoured through the adverts for people wanting a housemate until I saw the small ad from the girl living on her own in Manhattan who wanted another girl to share. It seemed ideal, I was hoping to find a friend in New York and I was planning on reinventing myself. No one would know the real Sookie Stackhouse. I'd just make up some story about leaving small town Louisiana for the bright lights of the big city. Once I'd found a place to live the next port of call would be to get a job.

But first of all I needed a new phone. I had deliberately left my phone behind in Bon Temps as I couldn't face any more abuse from any of my friends. I knew Gran would be worried and I'd planned on calling her after a few days to let her know that I was okay, but not give any indication of where I was. After buying a cheap disposable phone I dialled the number and spoke to the girl on the other end as we decided to meet in a bar near her house later on in the afternoon.

I found the bar she referred to, which was just off Central Park on East 61st Street, and after looking around the bar I noticed an attractive girl of about my age with shiny shoulder length chestnut hair and bright blue eyes. She waved at me when she noticed me and I walked over to her.

She immediately pulled me into a friendly hug. "You must be Sookie, I'm Amelia Broadway." She was incredibly cheerful and upbeat, and I was determined to do my best to match her mood and raise me out of the depression I had sunk into.

"Hi Amelia, nice to meet you too." We both ordered drinks, though mine was just a coke considering the copious amount of alcohol I had consumed in the previous three days.

"Are you from the South?" I noticed that she had a southern accent as well, and I instantly felt even more comfortable with her.

"I'm from a small town outside of Shreveport," I didn't want to give full details just yet.

She squealed immediately. "Wow, another Louisiana girl! I grew up in New Orleans, though I've been living in New York for a few years now. My dad just bought me a large house that's far to big for one person so I thought I'd see if I could get a housemate or two. My boyfriend Tray sometimes lives with me but he has his own flat and I think he likes his freedom, but that would make three of us at the most, which seems great!"

We chatted for hours about mindless stuff, though she did most of the talking and I was quite happy to let her lead the conversation. I had a feeling that the two of us would get on well if she wanted me to live with her, and I also felt like I probably would be able to trust her with my story, but I was not going to go there just yet while everything was so new and raw. After a while and we had both finished our drinks Amelia stood up and grabbed my hand.

"So, do you want to see your new home in New York?"

I was thrilled that she was offering me a place to live and enthusiastically agreed and let her lead me out of the bar. We walked for a few blocks before coming to a stop outside a beautiful Brownstone with wisteria growing on the outside. The house itself was huge and I was amazed when Amelia told me she owned the whole house not just an apartment. She led me up the stairs and invited me in to what would be my new life away from Louisiana. The house was beautifully decorated in an art-deco style with wooden floors and high quality furnishings. I had no idea how Amelia or her father had afforded this place, but they were obviously very wealthy.

She informed me that her room was on the top floor with access to the terrace on top of the house, and I could have either the second or third floors to myself. I opted for the second floor so we had some privacy between us, and she showed me to my room. It was absolutely huge with an enormous four-poster bed in the centre of the room. The en-suite bathroom was bigger than my old bedroom and the walk-in closet wasn't much smaller. This house was truly amazing, and she showed me around the rest of the house which consisted of four other bedrooms, an office, a small gym on the third floor and more than enough other bathrooms.

When we went back downstairs to sit in the den she poured us both a glass of wine (small for me) and we toasted to us being new housemates. "So, I know that the room is fully furnished, but if you want to put your furniture in the room I'm quite happy to move my stuff to the basement."

Ah, I would probably have to explain more. "I don't have any furniture, in fact all I do have is my laptop and a large bag full of clothes and a few books."

She regarded me for a few moments. "What did you run away from?"

She'd seen straight through my façade. "My boyfriend finished with me. He accused me of cheating on him when I hadn't. I couldn't stay there any longer, so I ran."

"Does he know where you are? Do your parents know you're safe?"

"My parents died when I was seven, but no, neither him or my Gran or brother know where I am. But to be honest I don't think they'd care right now. Everyone is on his side, even my own family." I was fighting back the tears as I spoke and gulped down a large slug of wine to calm my increasing nerves.

"I'm sure they're worried about you. You should call them to let them know you're okay." She picked up her phone and passed it to me. "You don't have to tell them where you are, just let everyone know you're okay." I sighed and dialled Gran's number, waiting for four rings before she answered it.

"Hello? Adele Stackhouse speaking," she sounded frailer than I had known of recent years and I hoped that I was not the cause.

"Gran, it's Sookie. Just wanted to let you know I was okay."

"Sookie! Where are you my dear? Please come home, I don't like you being away. Are you in Shreveport?"

I could hear voices in the background which stopped as soon as she said my name. I wondered who it was. "No, I'm not in Shreveport, but I'm okay. I promise you that."

"And you're going to come home?"

"No, Gran, I don't think I am."

"Sookie, we all want to see you. We're worried about you. You left with no warning, no note. I know that you've had a rough time, but you need to come home and talk to Bill."

Talk to Bill? Why the hell would I want to talk to Bill? But then the realisation hit me – she also believed that I had cheated on Eric with Bill. My own Gran who had raised me as her own child seriously believed that I would cheat on Eric for that idiot? I could hardly contain my anger.

"Why on earth would I want to talk to Bill?" I almost hissed at her as I spat my words out with my jaw clenched. Amelia took my hand sympathetically and I tried my absolute best to calm down.

"He's been constantly asking about you, he wants to find you. He's concerned, as we all are."

Why the hell was Bill concerned? "And Eric?" My voice was soft as I mentioned his name aloud for the first time since our split.

Gran was quiet on the other end as she obviously thought about the answer she was going to give me. "Sookie, Eric is upset. He's devastated at what has happened. I'm sure that he does miss you, but after what you did he …"

"What I did? Seriously? He should talk to Bill about it all, it has nothing to do with me" I was furious that she was also accusing me of being unfaithful. I was half inclined to go back to Bon Temps just so that I could kick Bill Compton's ass.

"Sookie, Bill has explained to Eric what happened between the two of you. He knows what has happened, so you don't need to stay away. Please come home my love, running away is not the answer."

My tears were falling fast from my eyes as I leaned back into the chair and shut my eyes. How had this happened? Things had been so good between Eric and I. He had been the only man that I had ever loved. The only man that had come close to holding my attention. How did he think that the slimy Bill Compton would have any chance of catching my eye when I was so blinded by him? I was not going to go home. I would make my new life in New York, I would move on as I was certain that Eric would. And one day I would kill Bill Compton for ruining my life.

I took a deep breath. "I love you Gran, but I'm not coming back. I did not cheat on Eric, and I certainly did not have any kind of relationship with Bill other than helping him with his French. What he is telling everyone is lies. Tell Eric that I love him, that I will always love him. He has always been my world and I will never be the same without him."

I hung up the phone before she could respond and handed it back to Amelia as the tears poured from my eyes. She came to me and pulled me into a hug and I sobbed loudly into her arms for what felt like hours. Eventually she led me upstairs and loaned me a pair of pyjamas to wear and I crawled into my new bed, crying myself to sleep for the fourth night running.

I awoke the next morning feeling like hell. I pulled my clothes on from the previous day and headed downstairs to the welcome smell of coffee. My eyes were still red and puffy from the crying the night before, so I was quite aware that I looked a complete mess.

"How do you drink your coffee?" Amelia asked me as she eyed me to check that I was okay.

"Strong, with one sugar and a little cream. I can't function without coffee, thank you." She handed me the mug and we both sat at the kitchen table.

"I'm the same, I couldn't get through the day without that first mug of coffee." She paused for a while as we both drank our drinks. "Are you okay?"

"Right now I feel like I'll never be okay again. I feel lost, I don't know what to do with myself. Eric was my life for over six years, I never imagined not being with him. I just don't understand how this has happened." She held my hand as a few more tears leaked from my eyes.

"Sook, just know that I'm here whenever you want to talk. I get that you don't want to discuss it right now, but when you do I'll happily be your shoulder to cry on."

"Thank you, Amelia."

Later on that day she drove me to my hotel where I picked up my belongings and checked out. It felt weird walking into the house as I moved my minimal stuff in. It was suddenly very weird but real to me that I was living hundred of miles away from Eric, that I was basically restarting my life without him.

Had I done the right thing? Could I have fought harder for him? What would have happened if I stayed in Bon Temps, would we have managed to sort things out? Somehow I doubted that we would have been able to, particularly considering the continued presence of Bill Compton. I seriously regretted the day that his grandfather died and he moved into his house. Gran had always liked old Mr Compton so was warm and welcoming when his grandson moved into the house situated across the graveyard from us. I always found Bill a little odd, but I tried to be friendly to him. I didn't really see too much of him as most of my time was spent with Eric or our other friends, and although we'd seen Bill a few times at Merlottes he was a bit of a loner and didn't really fit into our group.

For some reason Bill seemed to get on better with Gran than me, and they had the same strange fascination with the civil war. I at least understood it with Gran, but I didn't quite get why a 30 year old man would care so much about the war. What it did mean was that Bill was quite often at my house, meaning I had to see more of him then I cared to. He also saw more of me than I ever cared to either.

It was one morning a few months after he'd moved to Bon Temps from New Orleans and I was running late for a meeting so after jumping into the shower I then ran into the kitchen to put the coffee on with only a small towel wrapped loosely around my body. I was incredibly shocked to see Bill sat at my kitchen table, and I very nearly dropped the towel in my surprise. Eric had laughed loudly when I recounted the story to him later on that day, and made various jokes at mine and Bill's expense, but it was also the time that things got a little odd with Bill. He started to come around more often, and at times when he knew that I would be there. He was being over friendly to me, but also started to become friends with Eric, Jason, Tara and JB. It was odd, it was like he was a completely different person to the guy that had first moved in to the old Compton house. And I could not work out how all of a sudden all my other friends were quite willing to accept him into our group – did they not realise that there was something off with him?

I tried to tell Eric my fears but he just said that I was being silly and that I would learn to get on with him. I wasn't normally one to not get along with people, but for some reason I had almost a chemical dislike of Bill and did not trust him. However I tried my best to be friendly with him, but avoided him as much as I could, preferring to spend time with Eric when he was not around. As the months went on Eric and Bill strangely became good friends. I really didn't see what they had in common – Eric was now running his father's construction and building company whereas Bill was a computers man, though I had never quite worked out what he did. It unfortunately meant that I had to spend more time with Bill than I wanted to.

Bill also developed a strange interest in learning French, and Gran had told him that I had pretty good French, so she suggested that I tutor Bill. I had no idea why he wanted to learn, and I had a bad feeling that he was doing it just to spend time with me. Eric was beginning to get a little annoyed at my constant swipes at Bill, and I had learned to keep quiet about him. I now suspected that this was probably my downfall.

It was a few weeks after moving in with Amelia that we had the conversation. I was finally beginning to feel human and was getting used to living in New York, and particularly pleased with the superb house that Amelia had so close to Central Park. I was getting quite into running, and took daily runs through Central Park which helped calm me. I had lost 18 pound in weight since splitting from Eric a month earlier, and although this was a lot I was determined to keep it off through running and exercise. I had started writing again and wrote a few articles which were picked up for publication in a different magazines, so at least some money was coming in.

Although Amelia didn't need to work due to her rather excessive trust fund, she worked part time in an alternative therapy shop which I think she genuinely enjoyed. I was already waiting for her when she came home at seven and had cooked us gumbo to remind us both of our Louisiana heritage. I handed Amelia a glass of wine as she came in, and it was not long before we were devouring our meal.

"Sook, this truly is superb! My gumbo is no where near this good – where the hell did you learn to cook this good?" She had already demolished her first bowl and was helping herself to a second as well as topping up both of our wine glasses.

"My Gran taught me. She's a great cook, always did very homely dishes. Nothing could beat her food. I wish I had thought to bring some of her recipes with me."

"Have you called her recently?"

"Not since that first night. I don't really know what to say to her." I'd finished most of my dinner but pushed the rest aside as I'd been feeling a little sick recently.

"I'm sure she's concerned about you. No one knows where you are."

I put my head in my hands. I wanted nothing more than to return home like nothing had happened, to see Eric, for him to apologise to me for believing Bill over me. I had no idea how Bill managed to trick Eric in the way he did, he must have been positively Machiavellian to have pulled this off. Eric was no fool and I just couldn't imagine him being taken for a ride on a matter that was so important.

"What happened, Sook?" Her face was kind and earnest, and I felt like it probably was time to get it off my chest.

I smiled. "I'd probably better start from the beginning." I took a deep breath to compose myself, a large slurp of wine and then turned to face Amelia. "Eric and I had been dating since I was nineteen, though I'd known him since I was five years old. He'd originally from Sweden and I'm quite sure I've always been in love with him. Anyway, we got together at the end of my first year at LSU when he was finishing. It was a bit awkward at first as we had known each other for so long and my brother Jason was more than a little sceptical about any relationship between Eric and I as Eric had been somewhat of a man-whore before we became an item. But nonetheless we made it official and when I returned to Baton Rouge to carry on with college Eric came with me and we shared a small flat off campus.

"When I graduated I'd always wanted to travel to Europe and Eric was more than happy to come with me. He took me to Sweden to meet his relatives over there and we travelled throughout the rest of Europe. We had such a great time together and we realised on that trip that we really were meant to be together. All the time we were in Europe I was writing a travel journal, and when we got back to the States after six months I wrote it up and amazingly it was published.

"Eric and I had talked about getting our own place on our return so we could make a life of our own, but in the years I'd been absent Gran had become more frail and she was not able to manage our farmhouse on her own. I had no option but to move back in with her, and although we were both disappointed to not be living together we spent as much time as possible with each other.

"It was about a year ago that Bill Compton turned up in Bon Temps after his grandfather died. Have you ever had that feeling that you instantly dislike someone?"

"Quite regularly, actually. And I'm normally right. Why did you not like him?" Amelia asked quietly.

"I don't really know. I just found him a bit slimy and smarmy. He's not a bad looking guy, dark hair and eyes and he plays the role of the Southern Gentleman very well. But I just never really trusted him. And now I know that I had no good reason to."

"What did he do?"

"You know, honestly, I don't know." I took another deep breath before I continued. "Gran had asked me to teach Bill French as he had some strange need to learn, so I was did it. Eric was quite aware of what I was doing, so I really don't understand how he could believe that anything other than French lessons was happening. There were a few occasions when Bill turned up unexpected for an unscheduled lesson, but I always tried to do the lessons when Gran was around."

A solitary tear had escaped by eye, which had not gone unnoticed by Amelia. "Sook, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She took my hand and held it tightly in her own.

"I'm okay, I promise. One evening when I had been out late on a girls shopping trip to Shreveport I came home to find Eric and Gran sat at the kitchen table waiting for me. He had a serious expression on his face, and as soon as I got in Gran patted him on the arm before leaving the kitchen to go to her own room. He asked me to sit and then asked me what was going on between Bill and I. I was surprised at his questioning and reminded him that I was teaching him French. He asked what else was going on between us, but I was at a complete loss as to what he meant. He stood up from the table and clutched at his hair, I had never seen him like this, he seemed distraught at something but I had no idea what. I pleaded with him to tell me what was going on but he just got angrier with me, accusing me of lying to him. He then finally told me that he knew Bill and I were sleeping together, that we were having an affair. He told me he'd seen Bill arrive at my house when Gran wasn't in, when he knew that I didn't have lessons with him. I tried to explain that bill had just turned up on those occasions and I had only taught him a little extra French, but Eric just wouldn't believe me."

I got up from my chair and walked to stare out of the kitchen window onto the small patio that was our garden. Amelia came up behind me and gently rubbed my back.

"I pleaded with him to believe me, but he was so set in his ways. Eric had always been stubborn, and once he believed something it was always very hard to change his mind. He called me a whore, told me that he'd trusted me yet I'd betrayed him. That he'd changed his ways once we got together yet I couldn't honour him with the same. We were both silent for quite a while. I'd tried to go to him but he pushed me away forcibly, pushing me against the table and causing me to fall on the floor – a position I remained sat in for quite a while as both the emotional and physical pain soared through me. Eventually after he'd regained his composure he looked at me with cold eyes and told me we were over. That he could not be with someone who'd cheated on him. I tried to tell him that I loved him, that I hadn't cheated on him, but he laughed in my face, called me pathetic and then he walked out of the door. That was the last time I saw him."

"Shit, Sook, I don't get why he wouldn't believe you over Bill."

"Neither do I. The only thing I can think of is that Bill had been playing Eric. That he'd been poisoning his mind so that he doubted me, and then somehow set up Eric so that he saw Bill and I together when we were not meant to be. I guess then Bill just confessed to Eric that we'd been having an affair and Eric believed him."

"Is that when you left?"

"Pretty much. I crawled to bed that night and barely slept. All I could see was images of Eric looking at me in that cold manner. I was shocked to the core and felt so defeated. The next day I tried to speak to Gran about it, but it was obvious that she also believed Eric. A few hours later Jason turned up and gave me pretty much the same speech, telling me I was a whore and that he wanted nothing to do with a sister that would cheat on her boyfriend. Even Tara wasn't supportive. I didn't know what to do, but I knew that I couldn't stay at home. Once Gran was asleep that night I packed my bags and drove to New Orleans. I don't know how I managed to not crash my car considering I was crying the whole way. I parked in a residential area and got a taxi to a hotel where I stayed one night before boarding a flight to New York."

Amelia wrapped her arms around me. "Oh, Sook. This will be all okay – I promise you that. We'll find a way to make this all better."

"I don't know how to. Eric won't believe me, and even my own family believe that I cheated on him. The only person that can make this better is Bill, and considering the lengths he went to spin this lie I doubt very much that he will be willing to change his story now."

Amelia frowned slightly. "When you spoke to your Gran when you first arrived here, what did she say about Bill?"

"She told me that Bill wanted to talk to me, that he'd been constantly asking about me. That he wanted to find me."

"Well, that sounds then, like he thought he'd somehow win you from this. That once he had separated you from Eric he would be able to step in and be with you. The fact is with you leaving he hasn't got what he wanted. It means that he may be more likely to slip up." She had a smile on her face and I almost believed that she had a point. "Come, lets watch a violent movie and think of this no more." She pulled me into the den and we watched Shaun of the Dead, laughing out loud and trying to forget the truths I had told that night.

The next morning I awoke to nausea like I had never experienced before. I spent almost two hours sat on the floor of my bathroom before I felt like I could move enough to not be sick. I assumed the food I'd cooked last night was off, but when seeing that Amelia was okay I was a little concerned.

"Shit, Sook, you look like death warmed up!"

"I feel like it. I've spent two hours this morning throwing up. Are you okay? I'm guessing it was the food."

"I'm fine. I loved that food last night. Are you sure its not something else? You're not pregnant are you?"

I knew that Amelia was joking but I had a sudden jolt of fear run through me and I felt incredibly sick again. I was quite certain I'd probably gone pale.

"Sook, are you okay? Could you be pregnant? When was your last period?"

I had to think. "Probably about six or seven weeks ago. I assumed that I was late because I was stressed. I'm on the pill, I don't even know how I could be pregnant!" The feeling of desperation was slowly rising in me.

"The pill's not one hundred percent. You should do a pregnancy test. I'll run to the drug store and pick up a few and you can do the tests." She grabbed her coat and bag and ran out of the house as I buried my head in my hands, not moving until she returned twenty minutes later.

"Here, go upstairs and do the business. The sooner you know the better."

She forced the bag into my hands and led me towards the bathroom, where, after finally composing myself, I took the tests. I wasn't at all surprised when all three came out positive. As I left the bathroom Amelia led me into the den and sat me down.

"This will be okay, Sookie. But you need to speak to Eric before you make any decisions on whether to keep the baby or not."

Her eyes were kind, but I could not help but be shocked at her words. "I'm keeping the baby, Amelia. This is Eric's child, it may be the only part of him I get to keep."


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter starts a little lighter, but then reality kicks in. I hope you like it._

* * *

In the weeks after Eric rescued me from Quinn we saw each other occasionally, but as Eric was busy studying for his finals it was never anything more than a quick coffee or lunch. Jason had been furious about what Quinn had tried to do, and with Eric's help many other girls came forward to testify against him. He was swiftly kicked out of college and the police arrested him for sexual assault. I was aware that I would be called to give evidence against him, but with Eric's support I knew that I would be able to get through it. Until I left Baton Rouge that summer Eric and Jason were highly protective of me, which I was very grateful for as the experience with Quinn had really shaken me.

Eric and I kept our burgeoning relationship under wraps, and Jason only thought that Eric was looking out for me in the same way as he had done. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Eric. He had always been a ladies man and never had any shortage of girls wanting to hang from his arm. I'd heard many rumours in my first year about him but always kept the fact that I knew him quiet. He was well known on campus to be fantastic in bed, and having slept with Eric was a badge that many girls wore proudly, the ones that dated him even more so. However I didn't like to think of Eric with other women for the fear of my heart being broken. He'd promised that we'd take things slowly between us, but what did that mean? I really wanted to ask him if he was seeing other women but I didn't want to offend him.

It was a few weeks after the events with Quinn that I overheard an attractive blonde complaining to her equally pretty friend that Eric was no longer open to fucking around. She sounded so disappointed and desolate, telling her friend that he'd been refusing the advances of all girls for weeks, but didn't seem to have a girlfriend. I couldn't help but grin madly as I heard this, especially as I was meeting Eric for dinner later that night as his finals had finished. I took extra care getting ready that evening, having previously been to the beauty parlour to get myself waxed and my hair done. I applied some light make-up and curled my hair before pulling on my new dress which was predominantly white with red flowers.

At the allotted time I left the dorm and saw Eric's corvette parked in its now customary spot. Eric was leaning against the car looking incredible in a dark suit. He smiled at me as I approached and handed me the small bunch of flowers he had been holding. They were beautiful white and purple orchids – my favourite flower – in a delicate arrangement with a few dark green leaves.

"Thank you, they're beautiful," I smiled up at him and leaned in to kiss him gently on the cheek.

"As are you, Sookie, in that dress. You look divine."

I was quite certain I blushed at his words and he held open the passenger door for me as I climbed in. Once settled Eric drove us out to the outskirts of the city to a beautiful spa hotel. We chatted comfortably between us, and the food was truly incredible. It was without doubt the best meal I'd ever had, and that wasn't just because of the food. Eric was so kind and attentive to me and I felt like the luckiest woman in the world because of his attention to me. I was disappointed when it got to the point when we had to vacate our table to make the trip back into town. He took my hand and led me to his car.

"I'd like to stay here with you one time, if you would let me." I think my mouth may have dropped open when he told me that. I simply grinned a crazy smile and nodded my head enthusiastically as Eric chuckled at my response. "Sookie, I am not going to rush you. I want you, I truly do, but we need to take things slowly and we also need to consider Jason's response. I know for sure that he'll not be too happy that you and I are dating. He knows me to well." He had a smirk on his face as he said that last line. but I could not help but feel hurt as I too knew his reputation.

He'd obviously seen the expression on my face change as he cupped my face in his hands and tilted my head up so that I could not avoid his eyes. "Sookie, I promise you that I will not hurt you. I am a changed man. I know that I have a reputation here, and I have had a lot of women. But what I feel for you is completely different. I had no idea that what I was looking for was under my nose the whole time. I want to be with you Sookie, I want only you. You must trust me, I have not been near another woman since that night you slept in my bed. But I am not going to rush you, we'll take it slowly, I'm happy with that."

I couldn't help the solitary tear of happiness that trickled down my cheek as he spoke and he softly wiped it away with his thumb. He leaned down closer to me and I raised my head to him giving him the permission he was requesting. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as our lips touched. The kiss was soft and gentle, but as I moaned into his mouth his tongue met my own and he pulled me closer to him so that I could feel the huge bulge in his jeans. I couldn't help myself as I rubbed myself against him and it was his turn to let out a moan as I wound my hands up in his hair, kissing him with an ever increasing vigour. It was Eric that eventually broke the kiss and we both panted from our need for oxygen. He grinned at me and pulled me into a hug, kissing me softly on the top of my head.

"Sookie, you do unbelievable things to me. I want nothing more than to take you right now, but it is not the right time. But fuck, Sookie, you taste incredible." He kissed me one more time before we headed back into town. I was quite certain that I was glowing and could not keep the grin from my face. Eric dropped me home and we made arrangements to go out for dinner a few nights later. I hardly slept that night with the excitement of my date with Eric and kept on replaying that kiss over and over.

After we'd spoken about it, Eric made arrangements for us to go back to the hotel, but this time we would be staying. I couldn't help but feel nervous at the thought of sleeping with Eric, but it was something I wanted so much. My worry was that I would not live up to his expectations, to the many other girls he'd been with. I was a virgin, after all, and although I could not think of anyone I would rather give it up for, I was scared that he would reject me.

I packed an overnight bag with enough clothes for the two nights I was staying at the hotel with him, and made my excuses to my friends. Of course I didn't tell them where I was going or who I was going with as it would no doubt spread across campus in minutes, but rather I left quietly and met Eric before we drove to the hotel. He kissed me softly in the car as I climbed in, but I was certain that he could sense my nerves.

"It's okay, Sookie, I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to. I just want to spend time with you." He kissed my hand before driving off to the hotel. Once there we checked into the most incredible suite that must have cost a fortune. I tried to tell him it was too much but he would not have it. The living area was tastefully decorated with views out across the golf course. I picked up my bag and went to investigate the bedroom, which was huge with a massive dark wood four poster bed in the centre with gossamer curtains draped from the framework. Eric came up behind me and kissed me softly on my neck just behind my ear and I could not help the moan that escaped my lips.

"Shit, Sookie, you're going to destroy me if you make sounds like that. Come, lets investigate the hotel and go and grab something to drink."

He took my hand and led me back out of the room as we looked around the hotel. The facilities were incredible with a huge indoor pool, along with a few outdoor pools, a gym, sauna, whirlpool and salon. And then there were also tennis courts, basketball courts and the golf course. We found a comfy lounge and sat in the sun slowly sipping our drinks as we watched the world go by at a leisurely pace. When the evening arrived we went back to the room and I showered and changed into a dark green wrap-around dress for dinner. The food was as good as last time, but we didn't spend as much time eating as we had the time before.

Once we'd finished our desserts, Eric almost pulled me out of the restaurant and as soon as we were alone he pushed me against the wall and kissed me hard on the mouth.

"Sookie, I want you so much. You look so beautiful. Will you let me look after you tonight?"

His eyes were dark with need and I felt that his gaze was almost bearing into my soul. I answered him with a soft kiss to his lips and took his hand leading him back to our room. Once inside I nervously turned to look at Eric who simply scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the bedroom placing me gently into the edge of the bed. He knelt in front of me, and kissed me softly on the hand as I ran my hand into his thick blonde hair and pulled his mouth to mine. We stayed in that position softly kissing for a few minutes before I broke off and leaned back on the bed inviting him to join me.

When Eric stood up I scooted back further along the bed and he removed my heels before pulling off his own shoes and discarding them on the floor along with his grey suit jacket. I could not keep my eyes off him as he slowly crawled up the bed to me, kissing my lower legs, knees, hands and arms before he reached my heaving chest. I removed his tie and threw it in the direction of his other clothes as he started to gently kiss and nibble at my shoulder and neck before finally making his way to my mouth. His kisses were perfect, and we quickly found a rhythm that was natural and felt like we'd been doing it for years. As the intensity increased I realised my hands were rubbing him all over his body and before I knew what I was doing I was undoing the buttons of his white shirt. Once he was rid of the offending article I allowed my hands to run over his toned, tanned chest and arms. He truly was a work of art and I could not get enough of him.

His hands were touching me wherever he could but I wanted to feel him on my skin. I sat up slightly forcing Eric back and I lifted my butt so I could untie my dress. Eric raised an eyebrow at my action but simply sat back and watched as my dress disappeared leaving me clad in only my dark green matching bra and panties. I could feel Eric's eyes drink me in and the look of lust in his eyes made me feel sexy and wanted.

"You're so fucking beautiful."

In an instant he had pushed me back down on the bed and was kissing me all over and running his warm hands over the rest of my upper body. He leaned down to suck at my nipple through my lace bra and I nearly came undone then. I lifted my back off the bed to allow him access to the clasp and in an instant my bra was flying across the room. With Eric's attentions to my body I had seriously soaked my panties and I was desperate for some kind of friction. As Eric's kisses went lower I was writhing on the bed beneath him and cried out in frustration when he stopped before he reached the top of my panties.

"Sookie, are you sure you want this?" His eyes were lustful but he also showed a sense of concern, obviously wanting my permission before he went further.

"Eric, if you stop now I will kill you. I need you, please don't stop. I want to feel you in me."

He smiled a satisfied grin and I lifted my bum so he could remove my panties. "Look at me, Sookie." His eyes never left mine as he travelled further south and I cried out in sheer bliss when his mouth found my pulsating clit. He licked and sucked at me softly as I moaned in bliss, letting out a gasp when I felt one of his long fingers push into me. He pushed his fingers in softly to loosen me, but I was in sheer ecstasy from what his mouth was doing to me. It did not take long before I could feel my orgasm growing and as I pushed my sex further into his face my release exploded through me and I cried out loudly, not caring if there were neighbours in the room next door that would hear me.

"Fuck, Eric, that was incredible!" I looked down at him once I had found my composure to see him kneeling on the bed with a very prominent bulge in his pants. "I want you, Eric. I want you to do it."

I sat up to be closer to him, kissing him softly on his chest and staring up into his sapphire blue eyes as my hands found his belt first, then the button of his trousers, followed by his zip which was tight against his straining erection. Once I'd carefully undone his zip he kicked his pants down to reveal sexy black silk boxer shorts. I could not help but stare at his bulge, and I took a deep breath before I ran my hand down his chiselled abs to the top of his boxer shorts. He let out a moan, but I kept my hand on the outside as I ran my hand down his right leg before moving in to fondle his balls and then up the underneath of his incredibly impressive erection.

He moaned much louder as I stroked him and I felt the moisture pool between my already damp legs. In a brazen move I moved both hands to either side of his boxers and pulled them down so his erection sprang free. I knew that he was big - he was big all over – but I was not expecting quite how big he was in this department. I think I may have gasped when I saw him in the flesh and I heard Eric chuckle.

"Eric, there is no way that that thing is going to fit inside me! You must need a licence to carry that around with you!"

Eric smirked at my comments, but I was suddenly very nervous and my attempt at humour was how I was masking my nerves.

"Sookie, it's okay – I'll be gentle with you, I promise. It is going to hurt at first, but you'll get through the pain. But if you want me to stop just say so and I will stop."

I simply nodded and laid back down on the bed, hitching my legs up to allow him access to me. He leaned over me and kissed up my body in an attempt to relax me. When he was level with my face he checked my eyes one last time for permission and rolled on what I assumed must be an extra large condom before lining himself up with me. As he slowly entered me I was willing myself to stay relaxed, but I felt like I was being seriously stretched around him. He kept moving slowly, all the time alternating between kissing me softly and whispering words of encouragement. As he pushed through my hymen I let out a yelp of pain and a few tears escaped my eyes, but I wanted and needed Eric to continue. He slowly pushed in further and further as I became increasingly filled by his huge penis. I realised quite how big he was when he kept on moving further inside me, but finally it seemed that he was fully encased in me and he stopped moving.

His eyes were searching mine to make sure that I was okay and he ran his hands through my hair and kissed away the tears on my cheeks. When I felt fully stretched by him I moved a little to indicate that he could continue and he started making shallow and gentle movements. He was perfect, so considerate with me, but as he moved I could feel my pleasure increasing and I urged him on to increase his stroke and pace. My hands were gripping tightly onto his shoulders as he moved on top of me, and the whole while his eyes never left mine. As my pleasure got ever closer he shifted his position causing me to groan in immense pleasure as he hit my spot deep within me again and again.

"Fuck, Sookie, so good, so tight!"

His eyes were almost glazed over and his pace had increased to the extent that I was clinging on to him but the pleasure building within me was like nothing I had ever felt before. As I moaned louder and louder, I reached my peak and screamed as I dug my nails into his back and brought my head to his chest. After a few more strokes Eric let out a guttural moan and I felt him swell inside me as he emptied his load into the condom.

He pulled out of me and collapsed on top of me but partially supported his own weight, with only his head resting on my heaving chest. After a minute or so he looked up at me. "Are you okay? Please tell me I didn't hurt you too badly?"

"I'm fine, honest. That was incredible, thank you. I can see why you have so many women chasing after you, and I'm guessing that was just the tip of the iceberg!" I kissed him on the nose.

"Sookie, they can chase all they want. All I want is you. You were perfect, I have never had such an intense orgasm. I want more of that, I want more of you and only you." He kissed me hard on the mouth, his passion for me obvious from that kiss. "Are you sure you're not hurt too badly?" His concern was obvious and very sweet.

"Eric, I am okay. It hurt at first but soon the intense pleasure took over and the incredible orgasm certainly helped!" I pulled him up to lie next to me and he gathered me into his arms as we crawled under the covers and he spooned me as we both fell asleep emotional and exhausted.

* * *

I'd been trying to focus on happy memories of Eric rather than the hell of the two months since we split. After discovering that I was pregnant I made the necessary changes to my lifestyle. I immediately stopped drinking alcohol, though I was concerned about the amount I'd drunk in the few days after we split and I prayed that it would not cause any adverse affects to my child. I also forced myself to eat more as I'd got into a very bad habit of eating very little. I tried to eat all the good things for pregnancy – oily fish, organic green leafy vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains etc. I also started with the folic acid supplements and limited my caffeine intake to one small cup of coffee in the morning – this being a particular killer. I exercised gently to keep myself fit and read up all that I could on what to expect with pregnancy. Amelia was a god send and so supportive of me. She looked out for me and whenever the morning sickness hit me she was there with a mug of ginger tea which worked wonders in making me feel better.

I'd made a decision not to contact Eric until after my first scan so that I knew that all was okay. I didn't want to tell him I was pregnant to then lose the baby – he already didn't trust me and I didn't want that to extend further. Amelia came with me to my scan, but it was plainly obvious from the looks on the other mother's faces that I didn't have the father with me. I briefly wondered if they thought Amelia was my lover since she was holding my hand, but I tried to push such thoughts out of my head. The thought of doing this on my own was a daunting one, but it all depended on Eric's reaction to my news. We'd never really spoken about children, but he'd always been good with Tara and JB's little ones so I'd been certain he'd make a great father. I was relieved when the doctor informed me that both the baby and I were doing good.

I was feeling a little emotionally unstable the night following my scan, but the next night I made the decision that I was going to call Eric. I'd called Gran a few times since leaving Louisiana to let her know I was okay, but our conversations were always very short and never mentioned Eric or precisely where I was. Amelia had offered to sit with me when I phoned Eric, but I decided that it would be best if I did it alone. I knew she'd be there afterwards, and I suspected that if she was with me she may well give him a piece of her mind.

I took a deep breath, stared down at my cheap cell phone and dialled the number I knew all too well. It rang for six rings before he picked up.

"Northman." It was his customary response when he didn't know who the caller was, and I imagined he may have thought this was business related.

"Eric …. it's Sookie." There was no response from him and I instantly feared he would cancel the call. "Please don't hang up on me, I need to talk to you." I could hear him breathing on the end of the line and relieved that he'd at least given me a chance to speak.

"What do you want?" His voice was as cold as the day he told me it was over and I suppressed a sob at his tone.

"Eric, I need to tell you something. I …"

He cut me off before I could finish, "What, Sookie? What do you need to tell me?" His voice was impatient and angry.

I took another deep breath, there was going to be no sugar coating this. "Eric, I'm pregnant." There was no response from him. "Did you hear me, Eric?" I asked again softly.

"Yes, I heard you." He said no more than that, obviously frantically thinking through his options. I remained silent, biting my tongue to stop me from saying more. Eventually he spoke, "And I suppose you're telling me it's mine."

I felt like I'd been hit by a ton of bricks. He still seriously believed that I had cheated on him. Before I had chance to respond he continued. "Have you already had this conversation with Bill, or is he next on your list?" His tone was bitter and venomous as he spat his words at me.

I didn't know what to say – he was still so angry, he still believed that I cheated on him with Bill. I felt increasingly hopeless and could not help the sob that came out of my mouth, my tears falling down my cheeks.

"Eric, please. … I … I didn't cheat on you, I promise … I love you, Eric … you're the only man I've ever been with, you know that … please believe me!" I almost dropped the phone as my body convulsed from crying so hard and I was struggling to get my words out.

"I don't believe that, Sookie. Bill has told me what happened between the two of you. If you were willing to admit that you fucked up I may talk to you about this, but with your incessant lies I can assure you that I want nothing more to do with you. Don't call me again. If you want to arrange a paternity test once its born contact my lawyer, Mr Cataliades, and we'll get one done."

"Eric, please … this is your child I'm carrying, I promise you that." I was still sobbing uncontrollably and Amelia had come in to wrap her arms around me.

"If it is mine then we can talk once it is born. But I repeat, don't call me again."

He hung up without another word and I sank to the floor as Amelia comforted me. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was really going to have to do this on my own.

"Sook, it's okay. We can get through this, I promise."

"How? How can this ever be okay? He won't even listen to me. Amelia, my life is over – Eric was everything to me, how could he believe Bill over me? We'd known each other for such a long time and I'd never lied to him in that time. Why doesn't he trust me now?"

"I don't know Sook, but what you have told me it must be that Bill is some kind of psychopath to cause what he has done. The man must be seriously fucked up in the head."

"Yeah, but that doesn't help me now – what am I going to do?" I was almost pleading with her for an answer.

"All you can do is keep going. Live every day. Once the baby is born you can get the test done and prove it is his. Then he'll have no option but to talk to you."

We stayed in the same position for quite a while as I pondered what was going to happen. Out of nowhere a horrid thought entered my mind. "Amelia, what happens when he does find out this is his child? Could he claim custody? He's already telling me that he's getting his lawyer involved, what if he tries to take my child from me?"

I was crying even harder as Amelia tried her best to console me. "Sookie, please don't worry about that now – you need to keep healthy and calm. My Dad knows some hot-shot lawyers and if we need to fight we will do. Eric is the one who has abandoned you on this, it will all be okay." I wasn't so sure, but she was right that I needed to stay healthy and torturing myself over something I had no control over was not the right course to take.

So I struggled on. A few days after phoning Eric I spoke to Gran, but it seemed that she already knew. She seemed excited to have her first grandchild but I could tell that she still had her doubts about me which hurt me deeply. The pain I felt never decreased, but I found myself becoming increasingly bitter towards Eric, Jason and Gran. How could they seriously believe that I had cheated on the man I loved? I just didn't understand why they would believe another person over me. Why wouldn't Eric talk to me about it if he had any doubts?

It was when I was seven months pregnant that I finally heard from Eric. I was shocked to see his number appear on my phone, and I hesitated while I composed myself before answering. Had he changed his mind? Had he realised that I hadn't cheated on him?

I pressed the little green button. "Eric?"

"Sookie. I'm going to make this brief. I need to tell you that your Gran died last night of a stroke. Jason's making arrangements for the funeral which is to be held next Monday at 2pm. You're welcome to come, of course, if you want to. You can stay at the farmhouse since no one else is. I hope that you are well." He hung up before I could respond.

Gran had died? I sunk down onto the sofa as my tears streamed down my face. I had hardly spoken to her in the months since I told her I was pregnant, but she'd always seemed fine – how could this happen. I knew that I had to go to her funeral, even if I was only 'welcome' to attend. I couldn't believe that Eric would be so cold towards me when he was telling me of my Gran's death. And at the very least Jason could have called me.

Amelia came home at her usual time to find me slumped in the same position. I recounted what Eric had told me, and she held me tightly in her arms promising that she would go with me. She also agreed to drive me since I was in my third trimester of pregnancy, which I was very grateful for. There had been many times that I knew I would not have got through this without Amelia.

We agreed to do the journey over three days as I was finding my bladder control was increasingly problematic, and neither of us wanted to drive for long periods of time. We finally arrived in Bon Temps on the Sunday night and we both fell into bed exhausted, Amelia sleeping in Jason's old room.

I was praying to God that Bill Compton would have the good sense not to turn up as I was not going to be accountable for my pregnancy hormones causing me to do him damage. But mostly, aside from the obvious trauma of my Gran dying, I was scared to see Eric. I was scared of his reaction to me, and I was scared that he might be with someone else.


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, shorter chapter than normal, but it felt quite self-contained._

_Very annoyed that you lucky Americans get to read DITF when its not out in the UK until June!_

_And thanks for all the reviews - great response to the last chapter, and i know you want to know what Bill did, but you'll have to keep reading!_

* * *

I awoke the next morning feeling very disoriented. I was in my old bed for the first time in over six months, but my world was so completely different. I didn't have Eric any more and I was seven months pregnant and felt completely alone. I looked around my room which was exactly the same as I had left all those months ago. I wondered if Gran had come in here at all since I left. It was 5am when I woke, so I went to the bathroom to pee before hopping into the shower. I couldn't help but think back to some of the excellent showers I had shared with Eric in this bathroom, and before I could stop myself I was sobbing hard and curled up (as best I could at seven months pregnant) in the bottom of the shower. When I managed to regain my composure I pulled myself out of the tub, pulled on my old dressing gown and headed to the kitchen.

Amelia and I had brought supplies with us as we were not sure what to expect when we arrived, so I made myself a cup of mint tea while sitting at the kitchen table thinking of the many times I had sat here with Gran. It upset me that she would never get to meet her grandson, and I hadn't even told her that I was having a boy.

I was sat thinking at the table when I was interrupted by a noise behind me and Jason noisily walked into the kitchen from the back door. He looked me up and down, noticing my huge swollen belly, before heading to the fridge, pulling out the carton of milk and swilling it down.

"So you came then?" he asked not looking at me.

"Obviously." I responded in an equally cold tone. "Could you not have told me yourself?"

He turned to me. "No, I was busy making funeral arrangements since you weren't here. Eric had your number so I asked him to call you."

"Right." He took a seat at the table but neither of us spoke.

"I couldn't exactly have blamed him if he hadn't called you. I certainly wouldn't have in his situation."

"Gee, thanks Jason," I hissed bitterly at him. I didn't know why he had to be such an ass on today of all days. "Everything is sorted, I take it?"

"Yes, no thanks to you."

"What's that meant to mean? I could hardly arrange a funeral when I was hundreds of miles away, particularly as Eric gave me no details other than the date and time and then hung up on me."

"That's not what I meant." His voice was quiet.

"And what did you mean?"

"It's your fault." I didn't respond, but continued to stare at him until he continued. "It's your fault she died."

I could not believe my ears that he would say that. "How the hell is it my fault?"

"You should have been here to look after her, she got so frail after your left. This is your fault."

I shut my eyes and put my head in my hands. Not only had I lost Eric, Jason was now pinning Gran's death on me? "I will say this one last time and then you'd better get the hell out of my sight. I did NOT sleep with Bill. I don't quite know what he has done to poison your minds against me, but this is not my fault. That you have chosen to believe Bill over me, is not my fault. Trust me, Jason, when you realise – and you will eventually realise – that I did nothing wrong you are going to regret all of this and I'm not entirely sure that I will be willing to forgive you. And anyway, shouldn't you have been the one to look after her since you were here?"

"I tried to look after her, Sook, but she was so devastated that you left without a word. You destroyed her when you went wherever the hell it is that you went."

I really wanted to smack Jason around his head for talking to me in that way, but I was determined to get through the funeral without incident I thought it better to keep quiet. I had never been overly close with Jason, but it was the Quinn incident that finally did bond us together. Jason found out about Eric and I about 3 months after we started seeing each other. Eric and I had become increasingly comfortable with each other, and we were finding it difficult to keep away from each other. Jason had noticed the change in Eric and guessed that he had a woman on the go, but had no idea that it was me. It was a Sunday afternoon that Eric and I called Jason and Gran to talk to them, us all sat around the kitchen table in much the same manner as when Eric had accused me of cheating on him. Gran was instantly pleased for us, but Jason was not sure about us. I understood his concern, but all we could do was convince Jason that we truly did care for each other and wanted to make it work.

My thoughts were interrupted my Amelia coming into the kitchen. "Who the hell are you?"

My brother looked very shocked to see someone else walk in and was certainly taken aback by her tone. "Jason. Who the hell are you?"

"Amelia Broadway, I'm Sookie's housemate. You'd better not be upsetting her, she is seven months pregnant and prone to violent outbursts. And if she doesn't get you, I can assure you that I will personally kill you if you upset her."

I loved Amelia so much at times. Jason looked at her dumbfounded and started to protest but she shushed him and stood her ground, her arms crossed across her chest as she stared up at him.

Jason turned to me in defeat. "Sook, the funeral starts at two, but if you could be at the cemetery for one-thirty the reverend wants to run through some things with us. The will is being read at three-thirty this afternoon, and the solicitor is coming here so you don't need to go anywhere. After that we're all heading to Merlottes if you want to come."

"Thank you, Jason." I said in a cold and final tone. He gave us both a half smile and then left.

I sank down into the kitchen chair, my arms wrapped protectively around my bump as Amelia spoke to me. "You can get through this. You're stronger then you think you are." She held my hand as I cried a few more tears. After ten minutes or so she got up to make a pot of coffee, handing me a small cup while she drank a huge cup. Not being able to drink copious amounts of coffee was one of the things I was hating most about being pregnant.

I showed Amelia around the house as I considered whether there was anything that I wanted to take back to New York with me. I was unsure what would happen to Gran's house, it was not anything that we'd ever discussed. Gran had never been one to talk about morbid things such as death with Jason or I, particularly considering the untimely death of our parents. At least she evidently written a will so all those issues should be addressed.

I just couldn't believe that she was gone, that I would never hear her voice. Sure, over the last six months our relationship had been very strained, but I had missed her all that time I was gone, and I would miss her even more now. But had my absence really factored into her death? I had noticed when I called that she didn't sound her usual self, but maybe she had been unwell. She had never been one to go to see a doctor, and there were quite a few times that I had to force her to see one. But Jason new this as well, and he easily could have taken her.

For some reason I actually found thinking about Gran much easier then the thoughts of seeing Eric. I had no idea what his reaction would be towards me. He'd always been very fond of Gran, as she had him, so he would want to be there to pay his respects. But how would he react to me? I was trying to put myself in his shoes with the whole situation, but I just struggled to comprehend why he would chose to believe someone he'd known for a year over someone he'd known for many, many years.

At twelve-thirty I started getting ready for the funeral, pulling on my long sleeve black jersey dress over black tights. I wore some simple gold jewellery and pinned my hair up. I kept the make-up light and applied some waterproof mascara knowing that I would no doubt be in tears later on that afternoon. I pulled on my boots and met Amelia in the kitchen who was equally kitted out in black. As it was early December I pulled on a light-weight black coat, though it was no where near as cold as it had been in New York when we left. I took a deep breath, took Amelia's hand and we left the house in the direction of the cemetery.

When we arrived Jason and his latest girlfriend were already talking to the reverend, and he filled me in on what would happen, asking me if I wanted to do a talk, which I agreed to. I was sad to think that Gran was going to be buried shortly, her death becoming more and more real to me, but I was even more petrified about seeing Eric. Everyone seemed reasonably polite to me as more and more people arrived for the funeral. Gran had always been very popular in the community of Bon Temps and surrounding areas, so I was not surprised by the large turnout. It was getting towards the time the funeral was due to start when I could not help but notice that a hush had descended on the gathering. I first assumed that the reverend was starting proceedings, but I followed Maxine Fortenberry's eyes over my shoulders to see Eric flanked my his parents, his sister and my brother. Jason was making it very clear whose side he was on in standing with him.

He looked as incredible as ever in a black tailored suit with dark shirt and a black tie. His hair was tightly tied back, although a few strands were tucked behind his ears. But his eyes were cold as he regarded me, looking down to my rather large belly with a strange look on his face. In that instant I wished I could read minds. I didn't know whether I should approach him, but as it was only a few minutes before the funeral was due to start I simply turned and took my seat, Amelia stood behind me with her hand on my shoulder supporting me. I was trying my absolute best not to cry throughout the funeral so I could remain composed when I had to get up and speak. Jason spoke first, and when he was done the reverend indicated for me to move up to the stand.

I cleared my throat nervously before I began. "I firstly want to thank everyone for coming, I know she would have been proud to see such a large turnout." I was scanning the crowd as I spoke but as my eyes met with Eric's I almost found myself crumple under his gaze. I somehow managed to move past him to Amelia who was being much more supportive. "Adele Stackhouse has always been there for me, she has been like a mother since I was seven years old and more than that she was my friend. She will truly be missed by all, especially Jason and I, and I know that she is safe in a much better place. I miss you, Gran."

I'd decided to keep it brief and skip over any recent problems we may have had, but I meant every word. I really would miss her as I'd missed her over the last six months. I sat back in my seat and the reverend completed the proceedings with a prayer as the floodgates opened. I sat and sobbed as most people filed away, remaining in my position with Amelia behind me. When we were mostly alone Amelia came and sat next to me and I told her all about the fantastic memories I had of Gran. I was shivering from the cold when Amelia suggested that we go back to the farm house to await the arrival of the lawyer to read Gran's will. There were several people milling around the driveway, and then I spotted him. Bill Compton had been at the funeral, although I hadn't seen him. Amelia noticed that I'd tensed up and I indicated to her who Bill was. She was just about to go and give him a piece of her mind when Eric came over.

"Sookie," his voice was strained and emotional. "You are well?" It was more a statement then a question but I simply nodded my response unable to find my voice as I gazed up at his incredibly blue eyes. "I was sorry to learn of her passing. She was a great woman." I smiled weakly as he turned to leave and I could not stop the tear that fell from my eyes. It was Amelia that spoke up.

"So what, you're just going to ignore the elephant in the room then?" I wasn't quite sure if Amelia was calling me an elephant by Eric span on his heels and turned to glare at Amelia. I decided it best if I introduced her.

"Eric, this is my housemate Amelia Broadway. Amelia, Eric Northman." I didn't really know what to introduce him as, my ex? My child's father? Yet Amelia knew precisely who he was so he needed no other introduction. She was still glaring at him awaiting a response.

"I am not ignoring anything," he said resolutely.

"Right, so you're not going to ask how your son is then?"

Eric looked visibly shocked. I had not told anyone back in Bon Temps whether I was having a boy or a girl, but I'd imagined that Eric would prefer a boy. He was very much a man's man. He took a deep breath, looked down at my bump and then up into my eyes, his own eyes softer then they were. "Your son is doing well?"

He's said 'your son', not 'my son'. I simply nodded again and he walked away as Amelia uttered expletives at him under her breath which I tried to ignore. As much as I did think he was being a complete ass I had never stopped loving him, and was not sure that I ever completely would. I watched Eric rejoin Jason, Tara and JB - neither of whom had said more than a few words to me. I again noticed that Bill was stood a few yards away from Eric and tried to work out what we was doing on my driveway. However as the solicitor had arrived we all filed back into my farmhouse and Amelia and I organised drinks for everyone. As the solicitor sat down with us I again noticed that Bill was present, and Eric was also with Jason and I.

As he started reading I realised why Bill was present as Gran had left him some of her civil war memorabilia. I was strangely warmed at Gran's thoughtfulness but Bill's expression did not change. She'd split her savings equally between Jason and I, though leaving a small amount to some charities she was particularity keen on. When it came to the issue of our house I was shocked to hear that she had left it jointly to Eric and I. I heard a few gasps of surprise, but I could not help but be surprised at the one from Bill. His face had momentarily lost its calm and was replaced by a look of sheer anger. But as quickly as that look arrived it had disappeared again. I looked to Amelia who had seen it as well but it did not seem that anyone else had noticed. Jason was also very shocked. After the solicitor had finished and we thanked him, giving us his number as he left, Jason turned to me.

"Why the hell would she leave the house to you?"

"I don't know, Jason, maybe because you already have a house." I'd signed our parents' house over to Jason years before and he'd lived there ever since, so really I wasn't surprised that Gran had left me her house, at least I wouldn't have been surprised before the resent turn of events. But why leave it to Eric and I? I couldn't quite see why she did that – had it been a recent alteration? I made a mental note to ask the solicitor when Gran last updated her will. Surely if Eric and I had still been together, leaving me the house would have meant leaving it to him as well. Was she doing something else to tie us together? I looked over to him and he also had a puzzled expression on his face.

"I'll happily sign it over to you, Sookie. She was your grandmother." He seemed a little sad as he spoke.

"No. That was not what she wanted. This house is now as much yours as it is mine. And at least you live in Bon Temps. You can move in here if you wish, I know you were always desperate to move out of your flat into something bigger."

He looked at me for a moment before shutting his eyes and breathing heavily. "I couldn't live here, Sookie. Not without you, and that is not an option. There are too many memories in this house."

I felt an almighty jolt through my chest as he spoke and I felt like my heart may well shrivel up and die within my chest. But it wasn't just my chest that hurt as I felt a surge of pain in my abdomen and I bent over in agony, Amelia instantly by my side.

"Sookie! Are you okay?" She helped me walk over to the sofa and knelt beside me as I clayed down on the sofa. "Can I get you anything? A glass of water?" I nodded and she quickly ran into the kitchen to get me a drink. I looked up to see Eric staring down at me, concern in his eyes but also disappointment. I let out a loud sob as Amelia came back and I guzzled down the drink. "Hun, you need to drink more, keep hydrated. It's probably just Braxton Hicks but you are a little early for that. We'll get you to a doctor when we get you home."

I nodded and tried to relax yet felt so on edge. I needed to speak to Eric, I needed to know exactly where we stood with each other. I looked back up to him as he watched me, not moving a muscle despite my obvious discomfort. "Eric, can I talk to you?"

He was quiet for a moment but then pulled a chair closer to me and sat down. Amelia gave me a squeeze on my shoulder, telling me that if I needed anything I should just give her a shout. She herded the remaining people out of the family room to leave Eric and I alone.

He kept his distance from me and sat very upright in his chair. "Eric, what are we going to do about all this. The mess that we have found ourselves in. We were in such a good place, but now everything has crashed down around us. How do we fix this? Fix us."

"I don't know if we can fix this, Sookie. I don't think I can trust you. We can sort out the house and come to some kind of arrangement, but I think things between us are over." His eyes were hard but I could hardly see from the tears streaming down my face. I gulped for air between my sobs as I tried to calm myself down, but with no support whatsoever from Eric. Was this truly the end for us?

"Why won't you believe … that I didn't cheat on you. I didn't … Eric, … believe me that I didn't." It was such a struggle to get my words out as I cried hard, yet his face remained impassive. "Why would you believe what Bill said over me?"

"Sookie, it's not just a matter of what Bill said. I saw you with my own eyes. I saw that he would turn up at your door when you didn't have your supposed lessons, when your Gran wasn't at home. Sook, I had my suspicions about you and him as soon as he showed up. You used to talk about him, making out that you didn't like him, but I knew something was up. Bill too had some kind of fascination with you, and after a while I realised the two of you had something going on. You have to be honest, Sookie, stop lying, stop saying it didn't happen."

I was stunned into silence, he truly did believe that I had cheated on him. Did he not get that my distrust and dislike of Bill were genuine? And for good reason considering what he had done. I wrapped my arm around my belly a tried to shrink into the sofa. I wanted to disappear, I wanted to get away from this shit-awful situation. Eric had obviously noticed my gesture concerning my unborn child.

"When he's born, get a paternity test done and we will talk again. If you're carrying my child then we'll sort something out – child maintenance and visiting and all that stuff. But Sookie, there is nothing to work out between us. You cheated on me, and I cannot forgive that." With that he got up and left, my heart trampled on as he left.

Amelia came back into the room as soon as he was gone and drew me into her arms. She had evidently heard what was said between us as she luckily didn't ask me to repeat any of it. We decided against going to Merlottes and I phoned the bar telling Jason that I didn't feel up to going and we would be leaving first thing in the morning. But Amelia and I decided to leave earlier than that, leaving that evening and driving as far as Memphis before we stopped for the night.

I couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. I had no idea what Bill had done to convince Eric in such a way, but how did Eric think that he'd seen Bill and I together? I had generally tried to keep as far away from him as possible, and when I was giving him the French lessons I always made sure there was a table between us. What evidence did he have? As I went to sleep that night I contemplated the fact that it truly was over. I'd always carried some glimmer of hope that Eric would regain his senses, somehow realise that he had been mistaken and we could sort it out. Now I knew that was not an option.

As we travelled closer and closer towards New York City Amelia tried to convince me that maybe when Eric found out that my son was his we would be forced to have some kind of relationship, and that things may evolve from there. But I was increasingly feeling that I didn't want to have anything to do with him. I didn't want to get a paternity test, and I didn't want his money or input into the child.

Over the six months since arriving in New York, work had actually gone very well for me. I was able to get quite a few articles published, and one magazine agreed to publish my pregnancy blog each week. I'd also previously invested some money from the down payment I received for my travel journal in shares, and after selling them was astonished to find that they had increased five-fold.

I was trying my best to get over Eric. Trying to find good looking men on the TV or in films who could play the role that Eric always played in my dreams, yet I struggled. I knew that I probably did have to speak to him again, if only to finalise things between us, but the thought of seeing him that one last time filled me with dread. Underneath it all I still loved him, but I was not sure I could be with him.


	5. Chapter 5

Once I'd brought Oskar home from the hospital with me it took me a few weeks before I settled back into normality, well as normal as you can get with a newborn. He was so small and looked so breakable that I was scared to hold him at times for want of breaking him. I was surprised that Tray had chosen to move in with us – personally if I knew there was going to be a newly born child somewhere, it would probably be the last place I'd want to live – but I was very grateful he was there as his older sisters had both had babies. For some reason Oskar seemed to almost be nocturnal, meaning that my sleeping patterns truly were all over the place and I was permanently tired. Amelia had kindly got some black out curtains for my room so I could try and sleep whenever he slept.

I was getting stronger all the time, but my anger was growing towards Eric and my brother as the weeks and months went on. I was also finding myself lingering less and less on the events that had happened between Eric and I.

I'd made the decision to not call him as soon as our son was born. Although he did not know where I lived, he had my phone number and he was perfectly capable of calling or texting me. I'd initially been quite upset when I received no contact whatsoever from Eric following Oskar's birth, but it was another nail in the coffin as far as I was concerned.

I'd even managed to get back into work – my pregnancy blog had been very popular with the readers and my editor had asked me if I would carry on writing about my experiences as a new and single mom. I'd never given any specifics about my personal life, there had never been any pictures of me and I even wrote under the pen-name of S S Harris, based on my favourite teacher from high school.

I felt like I was finally getting things back on track. I loved my son incredibly, a love that I did not know I possessed, and he truly helped me get through my break up with Eric even though he was his father's son when it came to his looks. Amelia had been pestering me to go out with her for months since we had him home, and when he was six months old I finally relented. I'd become pretty good friends with Tray' sister Angie, who'd had a daughter called Rosa a few weeks before Oskar was born. As Amelia, Tray and I had babysat on a few occasions for her, including a few overnight stays, Angie agreed to take Oskar for the night to allow the three of us to go out and let our hair down.

I'd managed to lose my baby weight surprisingly quickly with Amelia's help as my personal trainer, and I'd breast fed Oskar for five months before stopping when it started to become too painful. It meant, however, that I was able to fit perfectly into my favourite black silk dress. It had a wrap around top, which fit snug around my waist with an a-line skirt. I paired it with some killer heels and light jewellery. My hair was loose around my shoulders and had gotten quite long since I'd not found much time to get it cut. As I stepped out of my room and met Amelia in the kitchen she wolf whistled at me.

"Shit, Sookie, you look hot! The women of New York had better watch out, 'cause no other woman is going to have a chance with any men with you around!"

I was grateful for her compliment but felt like she was seriously exaggerating. Tray, however, obviously agreed with Amelia. "Sookie, trust me, you look fantastic. No man would be able to keep his eyes off you." He got a playful thump from Amelia, who he kissed on the head. "Except me of course, who only has eyes for my own fantastically beautiful and gorgeous girlfriend!" Amelia grinned up at Tray as he wrapped his arms around her. Angie had picked Oskar up at five that afternoon to allow us al to get ready, but I was missing him already and desperately wanted to call Angie to make sure that he was okay. However Amelia told me I was not allowed to phone Angie until at least ten that night.

Once we'd had a drink at home while sitting around the kitchen table we got a cab to a club in town, and after queuing for entry we got into the club. After a few gin and tonics I managed to relax and started having a good time. Amelia and I were dancing and generally enjoying ourselves, and we amazingly even got Tray on the dance floor, though he did resemble an epileptic turkey when he danced and Amelia and I couldn't help but laugh at him. A bit later on I decided to go to the bathroom to check on Oskar, who amazingly was soundly asleep and had been for hours. I was relieved that all was okay as I'd been very anxious about leaving him alone for the first night, but all was fine and I was determined to enjoy myself.

As I walked back to meet Amelia and Tray I stopped at the bar to get myself another drink. As I squeezed into the melee around the bar and ordered my drink I was quite shocked to find that the guy next to me had already paid for it. I turned to him to thank him, but tell him it was unnecessary when I looked up into a gorgeous pair of green eyes. He had a rugged manly face with strong features framed by a mess of curly black hair. He was tall, not quite as tall as Eric, but tall nonetheless and he had a swimmer's body – broad shoulders and a slim waist in an almost triangular fashion. I was quite certain that I was ogling him and he laughed gently, holding out his hand to me.

"I'm Alcide Herveaux, nice to meet you." He had a thick New York accent, although was obviously of French decent considering his name.

It took a few seconds to regain control of my mind and mouth. "Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse. And thank you for the drink, it was very kind of you." I coyly took a sip of my gin and tonic while I stared up at him.

"Well aren't you sweet."

"Not really," I recounted.

Alcide simply laughed. We chatted for a while as we both drank our drinks. I told him I was originally from Louisiana, had been living in New York for around a year and worked as a freelance writer. Other than that I gave him no personal information. Much of it was all too raw to talk about with someone who didn't know me, and I certainly didn't want to scare this man off by telling him that I'd been traumatised following a break-up and had a six month old son from him that my ex wouldn't acknowledge. He told me that he was New York born and bred and worked as a detective within the NYPD. He was shockingly single having split from his last girlfriend around a year ago.

I found chatting to him very easy and I felt comfortable around him. He was certainly good looking and he humour in his eyes, but I could tell that he was very much a man's man. However, I could not help the comparisons that were going on in my head between Eric and him. However he'd certainly come the closest that any man had done when it came to comparisons with Eric. Even most celebrities struggled for attention when I compared them to my ex. But that is what he was, Eric was my past and I was determined to move forward, to meet someone else who would love me and my son. I'd not seen Amelia or Tray the whole time that I'd been speaking to Alcide, but as I had been fairly caught up in my conversation I probably wouldn't have noticed them anyway. And I was quite certain that Amelia would be keeping an eye out for me.

After a while, Alcide leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear. "I'd love it if you would dance with me, you are by far the most beautiful woman in the room and I want to feel you close against me." I probably should have been shocked by his words, but I'd been so hypnotised by his manly smell and sultry voice, that I nodded and followed him on to the dance floor, discarding my empty glass on the way.

I didn't recognise the song that was playing as we hit the dance floor, but I don't think it would have mattered as I would not have been able to concentrate on the music other than hearing the underlying beat to dance to. Alcide was a great dancer (certainly better than Tray) and despite being such a big guy he moved very gracefully. Eric had been good on the dance floor as well but in a different way, he'd always moved like a large cat as he was very smooth in his movement. I twisted and turned with Alcide as we got closer and closer to each other as the music went on. We were touching each other more, him holding my hand as I twisted.

Before long his hands were on my hips as I gyrated by backside towards him. I was shocked that he was closer to me then I expected, and I found that I'd gyrated straight into his groin. I was immediately embarrassed by my actions and span on my heel to apologise to him, but he shushed me and pulled me even closer to him, his arms crossed on my lower back as we swayed and moved in rhythm to the music.

I was truly shocked at how comfortable I felt in his arms, and I again inhaled his scent which was so manly but in a different way to Eric, less earthy than Eric. Maybe it was because Alcide lived in the city to Eric's small town Louisiana. I noticed a change in the mood when a slower song came on and Alcide pulled me even closer to him. I was becoming increasingly aware at how much Alcide was enjoying himself and just how attracted he was to me, and I couldn't help the slow feeling of panic that was beginning to ripple through me. I was trying to fight my impulse to run when I looked up at Alcide, only to have my lips captured by his own in a fierce yet strangely gentle kiss. I found myself kissing him back momentarily before the wave of nausea hit me with full force and I tasted bile in my mouth.

I pushed Alcide away and ran in the direction of door to the club which was much closer than the bathrooms had been. I had a twinge of guilt at leaving Alcide in that way, but I needed fresh air and I was quite certain that I was going to throw up. As I ran out of the club I went to the small alleyway to the side and threw up repeatedly, tears streaming down my face. I felt a hand on my back as my hair was pulled away from my face.

"Sook, it's okay. You're alright, I promise."

I looked to see Amelia with a concerned look on her face. I tried to smile at her but I felt so awful, not just for throwing up, but for leaving Alcide in that manner. He seemed a decent guy and certainly did not deserve to be treated in that way.

"Hun, what happened?"

"I don't know. I was dancing with Alcide, and then all of a sudden we were kissing and I just thought of Eric. I felt like I was cheating on him. Amelia, I miss him so much. But I want to move on, I want to live my life. I'm just not sure that I can."

Amelia wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and held me for a few moments while I tried to compose myself. "Alcide was the tall, black-haired guy you were talking to?" I'd been right that Amelia had been keeping tabs on me. She handed me a tissue and I wiped my mouth clean and started to dab my eyes.

"Yeah, the hot one. And it's just typical of me that the time when I actually meet another great guy I go and screw it up. He's hardly going to want to see me now is he?" I leaned back against the wall, tears still falling freely from my eyes.

"I would like to see you again, actually. And I too think that you're incredibly hot." I opened my eyes shocked to see Alcide stood there looking at me with concern in his eyes. I hated to think what a mess I must have looked, and I tried to wipe away some of the mascara that was probably half way down my face. "I'm sorry that I was a little forward with you. Please accept my apologies. I'm guessing that you have some things you need to resolve, but I would like to see you again, Sookie, if you're open to that."

I was shocked he still wanted to talk to me let alone see me again, but he continued.

"I know what its like to come out of a rough break up. My ex Debbie and I had been on and off so many times I'd lost count, but when we eventually broke up for good it was incredibly tough. We'd been living together so we had the hassle of the house, but it hurt like hell when she got married within six weeks of us splitting. I had no idea if she'd been seeing him before, but she'd always been against marriage when I'd mentioned it"

I was surprised that he was willing to be so open with me, so I decided that maybe me opening up to him may be cathartic for me as well. "My ex accused me of cheating on him when I hadn't. I think that someone must have manipulated him into believing that I had, as he would not trust me that I had done nothing wrong. After we split I found out I was pregnant with his child, although he won't acknowledge my son as his until I do a paternity test."

He looked really quite shocked. "Wow, I don't know what to say. Any man would have to be crazy to not want you." I smiled up at him, his attentions were making me feel much better about myself, and somehow telling him about Eric did help. "Do you want to get back with him?"

And of course that was the question. There certainly times that I did, times that I wanted nothing more than to curl up into his strong arms and lay with him, restart my life with him and our son. But I also didn't know if I could forgive him for betraying me in the way he did.

I sighed deeply and looked back up at Alcide. "I honestly don't know. I haven't seen or heard from him since I had my son. He wants me to do a paternity test to prove that he is his son, but I don't know what would happen then. He still lives in Louisiana, so there are over a thousand miles between us, it would hardly work for any kind of relationship."

"You don't want to go back?"

"I'm happy in New York, I've made great friends. But honestly, I don' know."

He looked thoughtful for a moment as I tried to remove more of the make-up that was probably half way down my face. "You should go and see him, get the paternity test done and talk it through. Otherwise you're always going to wonder what would have happened. If you don't see him then you'll regret it."

"He's right, Sook. You're a much stronger person then you were even eight months ago when you last saw him. Go and talk to him and then go from there. There is no way of knowing what the future will hold, but you always have a place here in NYC." Amelia smiled at me. "How about Tray and I come with you. My dad's been nagging me to go to New Orleans to go and see him, and Tray's never been to Louisiana, so lets all go."

I smiled a relieved smile at the thought of Amelia and Tray accompanying me. "Thanks, Ame, you're the best mate I've ever had." I hugged her tightly, Tray patting me gently on the back.

"But Sookie," Alcide started, "if that idiot ex of yours doesn't win you back – and personally I hope that he doesn't – please know that I would like to see more of you." I couldn't help the smile on my face as we exchanged numbers and I promised that either way I would contact him. It would always be good to have an extra friend.

As the three of us went to find a cab home, I said my goodbyes to Alcide who leant down to give me a kiss on the cheek. However it was me that turned into this kiss, our lips meeting. I was concerned that I probably wreaked of sick, but I kissed him softly on the mouth as he deepened the kiss and pulled me to him.

"I do hope to see you again." And with that he released me, winked as he turned and headed off down the street leaving me feeling a little awestruck that I had managed to meet such a great guy.

The three of us headed back home, and within days our trip to Louisiana was planned. Amelia, Tray, Oskar and I were going to be flying to New Orleans, renting a SUV and driving up to Bon Temps. We were arriving in Bon Temps on the Saturday and I'd arranged an appointment for the paternity test in Shreveport on the Monday. We could either stay in Bon Temps until we knew the results, or leave immediately to head back to New Orleans where we were going to be staying with Amelia's Dad. But that depended on how things went with Eric.

I was nervous about going, nervous about seeing Eric and nervous about what the outcome would be. But I was going to be strong, and as he'd not bothered to contact me in the six months since Oskar had been born, I figured that he really wasn't interested in knowing his son. I was happy to do this on my own. I'd become a stronger person through this, and I knew Gran would have wanted me to carry on without him, even if we hadn't been speaking much before she died.

The flight had been fine, although Oskar had been a little uncomfortable during take-off and landing. We got the car okay and Tray drove the few hundred miles up to Bon Temps, with me sat in the back next to Oskar in his car seat. I'd certainly been quiet throughout the journey, and Amelia knew me well enough to let me sit and stew. I had a lot on my mind, thinking through the possible outcomes of what was going to happen when I saw Eric. A silent tear trickled down my cheek as I dreaded the outcome where he was with another woman, where I imagined him looking happy and in love with some petite blonde, sat with all my former friends in the bar I once used to work in. I tried to push the image aside but it was truly ingrained on my thoughts. Instead I turned my thoughts to Bill Compton, the manipulative bastard of a man who really was responsible for my break up with Eric. I certainly had more than a few choice words to say to him, and I had a feeling that Amelia probably would as well. I hadn't gotten to speak to him at the funeral as I'd wanted to, but I really did want to kill him.

When we arrived in Bon Temps, I immediately noticed that a new gravel driveway had been done. I felt a bolt of fear go through me as I wondered if Eric was living here. As Tray pulled up in front of the farmhouse we saw that it had been completely repainted and it looked like the roof had been fixed. I was shocked that Eric would do this without asking me, but then it was as much his house as mine and he did at least live in Bon Temps. We got out of the car and I looked around but saw no other signs that Eric was in the house. I walked up onto the porch and opened the door, but nothing inside the house appeared to be any different. As I walked around the house I heard Amelia calling to me from the kitchen. There was an envelope on the table simply saying 'Sookie' in Eric's elegant script. I placed Oskar's carry case on the floor and sat down at the kitchen table fingering the envelope nervously in my hands. Amelia took the hint and dragged Tray out to show him around the land, and I gently ripped open the envelope.

_Sookie,_

_I hope that you are well. If you are reading this then you have returned to Bon Temps. You may have noticed that I have made a few home improvements on the house, and I hope that you, Bill and your son will be happy here if you make this your home. _

_Personally, I intend to leave Bon Temps shortly. Pam is to take over Dad's business and I intend to go out on my own. Know that I always loved you Sookie and I probably always will. I truly hope that you will be happy with Bill. Maybe one day our paths will cross again._

_All my love,_

_Eric._

I was convulsing with sobs on the floor when Amelia found me a short while later. I had curled myself around Oskar but I could not help the tears. I was completely heartbroken that Eric had left, that I would never get to see him again. The thought of never seeing him again made me realise just how much I did still love him. When I'd ran to New York I at least knew where he was, knew he was back here in Bon Temps. I handed Amelia the note and let her read it.

"Sook, I'm so sorry. We didn't even consider it an option that he would be gone."

"I should have called him straight away. Arranged the test. I've been so stupid, so stubborn. Amelia, he's gone. I'm never going to see him again." My sobs continued as Amelia rocked me in her arms. My heart broken into a thousand pieces that felt like they would never be able to recombine.

Amelia looked thoughtful. "Sook, why does Eric think that you're with Bill?" I reread Eric's letter as I carefully pondered his words. "It almost seems that Eric is suggesting that you and Bill were together with Oskar as your son."

"Why would Eric think that?" I just couldn't fathom what had happened – what had Bill been telling everyone?

"I'm guessing that Bill has continued his lies after you came back to New York. Maybe Bill has told Eric that it was his baby. Maybe that's why Eric has gone."

I sobbed more into her arms as she gently stroked my hair. "But if I'd called Eric earlier …"

"Sook, none of Bill's actions are your fault. The man truly is a psychopath. We should track him down and feed him to the piranhas."

I couldn't help but smile at Amelia's inventive way to dispose of Bill Compton, but personally I thought it was too kind. And as he was the only one who knew the reasons why he did what he did I wanted him in one piece. For now anyway.

After a while Amelia raised another point. "What do you want to do tonight? Stay here or go back to New Orleans?"

I thought for a moment. "It's getting late and we're all tired from travelling. Lets head to Merlottes and grab something to eat. Though I may need you two to act as my bodyguards from the locals that obviously hate me."

We all got changed and then drove to Merlottes, which was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night. I got Oskar out of the car, took a deep breath and headed towards the entrance of Merlottes. Amelia had struck up a light conversation, though I wasn't really paying much attention to her as she was speaking, hoping that I was agreeing in the correct places. We walked in and I immediately headed to the nearest vacant booth near the door. I put Oskar down on the seat and went to sit down when I noticed that everyone in the room had stopped talking and was looking at me. I'd expected that I'd probably receive a strange reception after returning to what was formally my home, but this was too much.

I was just about to ask them all what the hell they thought they were looking at when I saw that one of the pairs of eyes looking at me belonged to Eric. I was shocked to see him sitting there and I was certain that my heart stopped beating for a few seconds, because as soon as it did I could hear it loud and clear pounding within my chest. I was at a loss for words, my mouth dry. I could feel myself getting dizzy and I tried to clasp the table but missed, stumbling slightly. Luckily Tray was there to catch me and keep me stood up in a standing position. I just didn't know what to do, should I stay and speak to him? His letter meant that he had completely caught me of guard. I was just realising that I would never see him again, and there he was sat in Merlottes with his parents and sister. Had he decided not to go?

And then the familiar taste of stomach acid hit my mouth. I managed to ask Amelia to look after Oskar as I ran out of the door and threw up in the trees at the back of the parking lot. My tears were back, but at least this time I had my own tissues. I was going to have to face him. I was back to plan one: get the paternity test done to convince him that my son was his. After mostly regaining my composure I stepped out from the darkness of the trees into the lit car park to see Eric stood in the middle scanning around looking for me.

I stopped in my tracks as our eyes met again. I still didn't know what to say to him, so I just started rambling. "Sorry, seem to be developing a bit of a habit of doing that! Surprised to see you here, I saw your note at Gran's place and I assumed you were long gone. Are you back for a visit? Oh, and thanks for fixing up the house, let me know how much I owe you and we can go halves on it being that we both own the house. Oh yeah, and I booked a paternity test to be done on Monday in Shreveport if you're interested and will still be around. Though you don't have to have it done if you don't want to, up to you of course …"

"What?" Eric's eyes were blazing.

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"Why would you need another paternity test done. And why are you not here with Bill? Did you leave him back home in your love nest in New York?" His tone was incredibly bitter, even verging on venomous.

"Eric, I haven't seen Bill since the day of Gran's funeral." I said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. I have neither seen or heard from Bill Compton since the day I last saw you. And trust me," I spat, "if I ever see him again I will do him some serious fucking damage for screwing things up in the way that he did." I turned my back on Eric as I pulled on my own hair in frustration. I had never been one to curse, and Eric had looked quite surprised that I had done. I turned back to him. "Why? What has he been saying? Is he not around here any more?"

"Compton sold his family home a few months back. He told me that your son was his. He showed me the paternity test that showed your child was his. That you'd named your son William. He left for weeks on end, and he went to great pains to make sure I knew that he was with you. I would have happily killed him myself, but I thought that you were probably happy with him. And I would never do anything to make you unhappy."

His face was so pained, though I expected that my own was very similar. Did believing Bill over me not count as making me unhappy? I pushed that thought aside as I looked up at him to see a tear slide down his cheek.

"He is mine? Bill lied?"

"Yes, Eric. He is yours." I resisted the temptation to point out that I never did sleep with Bill and that he'd lied about that as well, but that was for another conversation.

"What's he called?"

"Oskar James Eric Stackhouse." I didn't know whether he would be upset that I hadn't named him Northman, but then considering he'd been under the assumption that the child was a Compton I wasn't sure that he would mind.

"Oskar. That's a very Swedish name." He smiled for the first time that evening.

"I know. I wanted to name him something that I knew that you would like." I smiled back at him. "The test is booked for twelve at the clinic in Shreveport, I have their details in my bag …" I started rummaging through my bag looking for the details I printed off for him when he interrupted me.

"Can I see him?"

I stopped going through my bag. "Of course." I led the way back inside to see that quite the crowd had formed around Oskar. Amelia was there talking to Pam and Eric's parents, with Sam also looking down at him. Amelia smiled at me as we walked in, and I noticed that Eric's family too were smiling. I absently grabbed Eric's hand to lead him towards Oskar, but dropped it as soon as I realised what I had done. It was the first time that we had touched in a very long time, and my heart began pounding in my chest again. I tried to apologise to him, but he simply retook my hand and we walked over to where the gathering was situated.

The crowd parted to allow Eric access to Oskar, and the grin on his face was heart warming as he looked down onto his son for the first time. Oskar beamed back up at him, clutching Eric's huge finger in his tiny hand. I made a mental note to log this moment in my brain as one of my favourites. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but in this instant I wanted to remember that moment.

"Looks like you, doesn't he?" Pam asked as she appeared at his side and wrapped an arm around his waist. "He certainly has your eyes, but luckily Sookie's nose." Pam had always teased Eric about his large nose, and he gently punched her on the arm.

"You can hold him if you want." I could see that Eric did want to, so I unfastened him from his carry cot and passed him to Eric. As Eric held Oskar in his arms the look of love on his face was unmistakeable. How were we going to talk about this, how was I going to be able to return to New York knowing that I was keeping Eric from his son. But then could we restart our relationship together? I was really not sure that I could ever truly forgive Eric for not trusting me. I sat down in a nearby booth quite certain that if I didn't my legs would collapse beneath me and I watched Eric and his family fawn over my son. I supposed that I couldn't really blame them, until today they believed that Bill had been my son's father, and now all of a sudden they had gained a son, nephew and grandson.

"Hungry?" Amelia came and sat across from me.

"Starving." I stated

"Well, it looks like you have some new babysitters, so lets take the opportunity to grab some food as I think I may well pass out if I don't eat soon."

The three of us ordered and our meals came quickly, all the while Eric's family taking turns to hold Oskar and make a fuss of him. He seemed to be lapping up the attention, and Eric smiled over at me, seeing that the three of us were obviously hungry and let us eat in peace. Once we were thoroughly satisfied I got up just as Oskar started cry and wriggle around in Eric's grasp.

"He's going to be tired, he's been up for a long time now." I lifted him from Eric's arms, softly humming to him as I bobbed him in my arms, willing him to sleep. It didn't take him too long before he fell asleep and I placed him back in his cot. "We should probably get going so can put him to bed." My eyes met with Eric's as I spoke.

"Can I speak to you? Alone," he asked. I nodded and followed him outside into the warm air of late summer.

I spoke first as soon as we were alone. "I was surprised to see you here. When I read your note I assumed you were long gone."

"I only wrote it two days ago. I was planning to leave on Wednesday."

"Was?"

"I don't know any more. Seeing you here … meeting my son … what do we do now? Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know, Eric. Do you believe that I didn't cheat on you?"

He was silent for a moment. "I …"

I could see the doubt on his face and I knew my answer. "That's the point, Eric. You now know for sure that Bill lied to you, but you still can't believe that I did not cheat on you. That Bill lied about that as well." I was exasperated, and span on my heels walking away from him. I took a deep breath, willing my tears not to restart.

We both stood in silence outside the bar, neither one of us speaking, but neither wanting to leave that spot. Our silence was interrupted by Amelia and Tray coming outside with Oskar.

"Okay, you two. I'm guessing you've still got a lot to talk about, but its getting late and we're all tired from travelling. Why don't the two of you meet up tomorrow to talk further. Tray and I will take the little monster so you can talk or do whatever the hell it is the two of you need to do. But know this Eric, if you hurt her further I will kill you."

I was certain that Eric knew she meant it, and we managed to arrange to meet at an old favourite spot of ours by the lake. I knew for sure that tomorrow was going to be a rough day.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you again for all your reviews - its interesting to see that most people think Sookie would be better off without Eric._

_This chapter is a little rough on our lovers - so you may want to have a Kleenex handy._

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I hardly slept that night. My mind was in overdrive pondering every potential fluctuation of the pending conversation with Eric that I could think of. I couldn't help but assume that he probably had a girlfriend, but he had been planning to leave Bon Temps in just a few days – was he going with someone? The thought almost made me sick with jealousy – but why should I feel jealous? I knew that we needed to talk about us, but then I was not sure that I wanted him back. Sure we needed to work something out because of Oskar, and it would be much easier if we could be friends. But the thought of Eric arriving at my house one day with some beautiful woman on his arm was truly sickening.

I was woken by Oskar's cries and I hauled myself out of bed to tend to him. I'd hardly slept more than a few hours and my face certainly showed it. I was going to have to use extra concealer today as I was determined to look as good as possible when I met up with Eric. It was seven in the morning so I got the coffee pot going knowing that Amelia would need her own fix, and poured myself a huge mug as I went to sit out on the porch with Oskar in his carry cot. I thought back to the many times that Eric and I had sat here first the in the morning, his warm arms wrapped around me as I leaned contentedly back onto his strong chest. Another tear escaped my eyes, but I was determined to be strong and not give in to my emotions. I needed to be clear and level-headed when I spoke to Eric, not fall to pieces and jump back into his arms. I was sure that my own anger would prevent me from doing that though.

After Amelia cooked us breakfast which I picked at, I fed Oskar, bathed and changed him before getting ready myself. I took a long shower, washing my hair with extra conditioner and shaving the various body parts that needed it. I applied some sun lotion since I was going to be outside, before I dried and curled my hair and put on a little light make-up (waterproof, of course). I pulled on a cobalt blue sun dress I'd recently bought and paired it with a black cardigan and simple sandals. I went back out into the family room to check on Oskar before I took the SUV and drove to meet Eric.

I started speaking as I walked into the room. "Ames, thank you for saying you'll look after him, I really owe you one."

"That's alright, you know we love to look after this monster. And if we ever have one of our own, you will most certainly be repaying the favour." I was quite shocked to hear Amelia talk about having children as I was not aware her and Tray had discussed it. I sneaked a glance at Tray to see if he was freaking out, but was surprised to see that his face was perfectly calm. Maybe they had spoken about it, and having Oskar living with them was the perfect opportunity to get some practise in.

I smiled. "I would most certainly be happy to do that."

Amelia grinned at me. "You look great, I take it you're showing Eric exactly what he's missing out on?"

I smirked slightly. "Damn straight I am!"

"You go girlfriend! Seriously hun, good luck with everything. Don't let him talk you into anything that you don't want. But I promise I won't berate you if you sleep with him one last time – the boy is certainly a looker!"

"Oh, I can assure you that that will not happen." I was trying to convince myself there as well. The lake had always been one of our favourite locations, and the part we used to meet was secluded. We'd had many a tryst in that spot, and I was surprised that Eric suggested that place considering we had so many great memories together just there. Maybe it was what he was planning, I'd certainly fantasised about it the night before.

I checked the clock on the wall and leaned in to give Oskar a kiss goodbye. "I'd better be off. I have my phone so call me if you need me."

"Will do. Take care."

I walked out of the house I would always think of as Gran's place, grabbing the keys for the SUV and drove for fifteen minutes to our old meeting spot. When I pulled up I immediately saw that Eric's corvette was parked in its former spot. Eric had had that car for many years, and it was the same one that drove me home after the Quinn incident many years earlier. I had a lot of great memories of that car and Eric had always had a bit of a thing for making out in or on it. It had taken him a few years before he let me drive it, but I'd always felt uncomfortable driving the car as it truly was Eric's baby. However, of course, it was certainly not practical for carrying a child in. I wondered to myself whether he would get a new car if he decided he wanted a role in Oskar's life, though I doubted he would ever sell that corvette.

Eric was stood leaning against the car, shades on, as I parked next to him. He too looked incredible in a tight black t-shirt, low-slung dark blue jeans and dark trainers. I took a deep breath and got out of the car, locking it behind me and dumping the keys in my handbag.

"Hi," I said nervously, keeping my distance from him.

"Hi, you look great. Shall we go?"

We walked along the narrow pathway through the bushes to our old spot, neither one us saying anything. In the good days, Eric would have given me a piggy back along this bit if I'd been wearing a dress or skirt as some of the brambles and bushes were a little overgrown and it meant I could avoid being scratched. Instead, I walked behind Eric as we slowly made our way, my eyes to the floor so I could avoid the bushes.

After ten minutes walking we arrived at the small clearing by the lake. There was a patch of grass that caught the sun, with a few large trees at the back of the clearing which could provide shade if needed. It was early September so it was certainly very warm, and I was glad I'd put my lotion on. It truly was a beautiful and secluded spot where no one would see you other than the few sailors on the lake, and even they were scarce as this area was a little shallow in places.

Eric laid out a blanket he had thoughtfully brought with him and I perched on a corner, my legs curled underneath my body and my arms crossed in front of me in a somewhat defensive position. Eric sat diagonally opposite from me on the blanket, neither one of us seemingly willing to start the conversation. However since I had come to Bon Temps with the sole purpose of speaking to him I realised it should probably be me who started. I decided that at first I would try and keep things light between us at first, though I wasn't sure how successful at that I'd be.

"So … how have you been?"

"Since yesterday?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I meant since … well, you know … since I last really saw you before Gran's funeral. But since yesterday is good." I was aware that I was already rambling.

"I hardly slept last night."

"Me either. And for once it wasn't Oskar keeping me up." It was my attempt at humour, but talking about Oskar could at least be a common ground for the two of us.

"I feel like I have missed out on a lot these past six months." Jeez, he wasn't going to make this easy.

"He's a great kid, he's always been a happy baby, and luckily started sleeping for long periods very early on. He's growing quickly and my nurse tells me he's probably going to be tall. Like you in that respect I guess."

He smiled slightly as he looked deep in thought. We both sat quietly for a few minutes, and I looked out across the lake. We'd spent so many times here together, this was our special place. I tried to remember the last time we were here together, and realised it was probably about a month or so before we split. It had been a warm spring day and we came with a picnic and laid together on this same blanket as we watched the clouds pass over head. I couldn't remember what we talked about, but I do remember that he brought me to a fantastic orgasm with his talented fingers as I brought him to his own with my mouth.

"What are you thinking about?"

I felt myself blush instantly as I'd been caught replaying one of our sexual encounters in my mind. "I was just thinking back to the last time that we were here."

"I've been here more recently than that."

I felt the blood drain from my face – had he brought someone else here? A small breeze blew past me and I shivered. "With whom?" I asked in a small voice.

"You think I brought someone else here?" he asked in an angry tone. "Sookie, you would be the only one I would ever bring here. I came here to think as its peaceful and the place reminds me of you. Why would you think that?"

"Eric, I hardly expect that you have remained celibate since we split. And I remember what you were like before we got together." It was a low shot but I could not help myself.

"I may well have been a manwhore back then, but I can assure you that _I_ have not slept with anyone else since." His voice was louder and it was evident just how angry he was.

But my own anger was on the rise. "Why am I even here?" I asked to myself as I got up off the blanket and stood at the water's edge. I turned back to face him, "Eric, why the fuck will you not believe that I did not sleep with Bill? Tell me – what the fuck do you think that I did?" I was glaring at him waiting for his answer.

"You know perfectly well, Sookie," he spat. "But for your amusement I will remind you of your indiscretions." His voice was snide and cruel, but I knew I had to hear this to work out exactly how Bill manipulated him into believing that I had cheated on Eric with him.

He indicated for me to rejoin him on the blanket, which I did. "I'll start at the beginning shall I?" I nodded, giving in to his theatrics. "The very first time I met Bill he asked me about you. I wasn't sure whether he knew we were dating, but he seemed very interested in you and asked me if I knew you and whether you were single. I told him that I did know you but no, you were not single and were dating me. I didn't see him again for a while, I'm not sure that any of us did, but when I did see him again he seemed a different person, friendlier and more open." I too remembered that Bill had changed, and I also remembered pointing out to Eric that I found it very odd. "Anyway, I remember the change in you as well – you always made out that you didn't like him but he seemed to spend far too much time at your house. You always made out that he used to talk to your Gran about the civil war, but neither Bill or your Gran ever confirmed this."

What? Bill and Gran were always talking about the civil war, it was the thing they had in common. It was why Gran left him the war memorabilia in her will. I could understand why Bill would lie to Eric, but why would Gran lie to protect Bill? I needed to speak to Amelia as she was always good at coming up with theories, but was Bill somehow manipulating Gran?

He continued. "And then you started the 'French lessons'? What kind of bullshit was that? I remember from our trip to Europe that although your French is better than mine, you're hardly fluent. Why would you be able to teach Bill French, and why would he want to learn? And again, when I asked Bill about his French he said he didn't know any of the language. See, Sookie, I had my suspicions right from the start."

"Then why didn't you speak to me about it. Why believe Bill without even asking me?"

"Because it was so plainly fucking obvious!" He got up and turned his back on me, pulling at his hair as he leaned with one arm against one of the trees. "Even Jason and Tara noticed it as well. You were always keen to avoid Bill whenever we were together, yet he was a changed person. It was obvious that he was getting some, and I knew perfectly well that you were the one putting out." He walked back to the blanket, his eyes fierce with anger. "I even saw you out with him one night in Monroe. You'd called me and cancelled our evening together, stating that you had a migraine, yet when I ran into Bill a bit later on he told me that he was excited as he had a date in Monroe at the fairground. I decided to follow him there to see if it really was you as I expected it to be. I kept my distance, but I noticed Bill in the ridiculous shirt he was wearing and I saw him with you."

I wasn't going to sit and have Eric accuse me with lies. "Eric, I never went to Monroe with Bill, I never went near him unless I had to. I was genuinely unwell that night, I was home in bed suffering with flashing lights. And how did you know that it was me if you kept your distance the whole time?"

"Well, the blonde certainly looked a hell of a lot like you and she had on your favourite red and white dress. Are you seriously telling me that it wasn't you? If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it probably is a duck."

"It wasn't me, Eric."

"Oh really? Shit, Sookie, why don't you just change the record. I'm getting tired of hearing you constantly telling me that you're not the whore I know you to be."

I was livid – how dare he call me a whore. "Now you listen here, Eric Northman. I will not have you speak to me in that way. Can you not get it into your thick head that Bill manipulated this whole scenario? You know for sure that he lied to you about the paternity test, what makes you think that this whole thing isn't more of his lies. The reason I always told you that I didn't like Bill was quite simply because I didn't. I never trusted him. I always had a suspicion that there was something not quite right about him. He quite simply gave me the creeps, and I always told you that. Gran as well. And I was right, but you were too trusting of him, you were willing to believe his every word even when it destroyed your relationship with your son. With me."

Eric was quiet and thinking as I thought back for a moment to think of whenever Gran and I spoke about Bill. I was never complimentary towards him, but Gran always seemed to defend him. But I'd often thought that Gran had looked uncomfortable whenever Bill was around or we talked about him. I never really thought much about it at the time, but was he somehow manipulating her as well? Although it was a side step from our previous altercation, I decided to ask Eric his opinion.

"Did you notice at the reading of Gran's will that Bill was shocked when it was read that the house was to be left between you and I?"

"Sookie, I don't see what the relevance of this is."

"Just answer me." I stated firmly. Eric had been stood behind me when the will was read so there was every possibility that he did see Bill's face.

"I did notice that he looked surprised. I can't say I gave it too much thought."

"And did you notice that Gran left him her civil war memorabilia? She'd hardly have done that if he hadn't shown an interest in it. She loved that stuff, and some of it was worth quite a bit."

"Well, he told me that he didn't want it, and from my understanding I think he sold it." I felt quite upset that some of Gran's favourite possessions had been sold by Bill. "What exactly is your point?"

"Eric, Bill was manipulating everyone right from the start. I have no idea why, but I think he expected Gran to leave him the house. I know it sounds far fetched but I think he may have bugged our house as she always seemed so nervous when talking about him or when he came over. I think he was manipulating her as he was you.

"I don't know what else to say, Eric. I didn't cheat on you, I wouldn't, I couldn't. I have been in love with you as long as I can remember. You were always the only man for me. Do you think that before we got together I hadn't had offers from other guys to go out on dates? Sure I went on a few dates, I even dated Sam for a while when you were at college, but no one came close to you. And once we got together I was spoiled for other men, hell I still am." I thought back to my response towards Alcide. He was a great guy, I could tell that, but I had a feeling that I would be no good for him as I was too damaged. It would not be fair of me to date him when I was so seriously on the rebound. Was I ever going to fully get over Eric or was I destined to be on my own forever.

As if he had read my mind, Eric quietly asked: "Have you met someone else?"

My stomach turned and I felt sick to my stomach, my heart in my mouth. I took a deep breath to calm myself before answering. "Amelia, Tray and I went out last weekend. It was the first time I'd been out since, well, you know." I took another deep breath, urging myself on. "I ended up chatting to this guy for a while, and we danced."

"And?" Eric's eyes were burning, but I could see hurt behind them.

"He kissed me. I reciprocated for a moment, but all I could think of was you. I felt like I _had_ cheated on you. I ran outside and threw up."

"As you did yesterday?"

"Yeah, as I said, I seem to be making a habit of it. For some unknown reason Alcide, that's his name, he followed me outside and he wants to see me again."

"Does he know about Oskar?"

"Yes, I told him about Oskar and you. It was him that said I should come back down here to talk to you."

"So it took some bloke you met in a nightclub before you would meet up with me again?" His voice was angry.

"Eric, unless you've forgotten, you are the one that ended this. You're the one that hasn't trusted me. And you knew roughly when Oskar was born – you could have called. But yet again you chose to believe Bill over me. I told you that I was carrying your son, but you didn't even bother to call after he was born, to make sure your son was okay. To make sure that I was okay." The tears that I'd been holding back for quite a while suddenly put in an appearance and I turned away from Eric, fishing a tissue out of my bag as I walked to the water's edge.

Eric came up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I almost melted into his touch. "I lost my phone about six months ago. I got a new one, but I'd lost all my numbers. I lost your number."

I turned to him. "Lost or stolen?"

He looked thoughtful. "I was in Merlottes one night. I'd been drinking a fair amount as it was around the time that I expected your son to be born. I remember having my phone on the table, but when I went to leave it wasn't there. We did search for it, and Sam looked the next day, but it was never found."

"So it probably was stolen, then."

"I guess."

"Was Bill there that night?"

His expression changed as he realised that Bill was there. I was not surprised when he confirmed that Bill was in fact at the bar the night his phone went missing.

"Eric, I am telling you. Bill has manipulated this whole thing. I have no reason why, I don't know what either of us did to earn Bill's spite, but Bill is behind this. Eric, will you not believe me? Bill had lied to you from the start, and you bought his lies. You didn't trust me, you didn't even ask me yourself before you ended our relationship." I walked away from him and went to sit back down on the blanket, burying my head in my hands as the tears poured down my face. I was aware that Eric joined me on the blanket, but neither of us spoke.

I wondered what was going through Eric's mind, was he considering what I had told him. Was he replaying the events that occurred in the last year of our relationship, was he realising that he had been manipulated by Bill Compton. After a while I dared to look over to Eric to see that his own tears were falling from his eyes.

"Eric?" I asked, not really knowing what the question was.

"I've fucked up, haven't I?"

I couldn't help but smirk at his question. "Something like that," was my response.

"I just can't work out why Bill would have done this. Why destroy our lives in that way, what had either of us done wrong? Sure, he probably liked you, and I can hardly blame him for that, but why act in this way?"

"I don't know. It's not as if he ever openly flirted with me. I never really got the feeling from him that he liked me in that way, I just always found him creepy and threatening. Maybe he was some kind of predator. All I know is that he's certainly a psychopath, and the fact is that he won. I'm not sure that he ever wanted me, I just think he didn't want you to have me."

"He doesn't have to win, Sookie. We can work through this, we're better than him."

In some ways I'd imagined this outcome to be even worse than Eric and I still hating each other. At least that way our feelings were the same, that way I would not mind if I hurt him more. But he wanted us to get back together, and I wasn't sure that I did. If we were to get back together I knew that I was never going to be able to trust Eric to not abandon me again, to not hurt me in the way he had, and no relationship could ever survive without trust. We needed to talk about Oskar, I did want him to know Eric, to have two parents even if one lived over a thousand miles away.

I had turned away from him when he last spoke, determined to keep my hurt from him. But I could not help the sobs that slipped from my mouth as my body convulsed. Eric came up behind me and wrapped his strong arms around me and held me in his arms.

"Sookie, my love, it's okay. We can get through this. I love you, Sookie. I always have and I always will. I'm sorry, so so sorry, I was such an idiot to believe Compton over you, but he was so convincing and he always seemed to have proof of his lies. You were always telling me one thing, and he'd say the opposite. And that your Gran backed up his story? I never suspected she'd be manipulated by him as well. Sookie, please, I love you. Please give me another chance."

His arms tightened around me and he started gently kissing my neck behind my ear in the spot I had always loved so much. I wanted to much to fall back into his arms, to forget what had happened between us, what he had done to me. But I knew I could never trust him not to hurt me again. It would always be with me, the way he abandoned me and our unborn child as he believed someone else over me.

Tears were falling fast from my eyes, "Sookie, please say something. Please tell me that you love me too, that you want to work on this, work on us. Think of our son …"

I jumped up out of his arms and turned back to look at him, surprise on his face as he saw my fierce eyes. "Do not bring Oskar into this. You only met him yesterday and you certainly never acknowledged him before." I took a breath and sank down on my knees in front of him. "Eric, I do love you. I will always love you, despite what has gone between us. I'm sorry, but – "

"Don't say it, please don't say it," Eric's own tears were falling as he held out his hand to me. He knew what was coming.

"Eric, I'm sorry, but I can't. I came back here to talk things through with you, to try and get you to understand the truth. You accused me of having an affair with another man, and then didn't even speak to me about it. You chose to believe Bill's lies, you didn't trust me. Do you have any idea how much I loved you, how much I would have done anything for you? But you betrayed me in not trusting me. I'm sorry, Eric, but there is no us. Not as a couple."

"Please Sook, I know I fucked up, I get that now. You've made me realise that Bill lied the whole time, but it isn't my fault, he's the one that lied."

"Yet you believed him. You didn't trust me."

"I love you Sookie."

"I know, and I love you too. But this will not work." I stood up. "I think we should get some space, have some time to think things through."

"Will you reconsider?"

"No. My mind is made up. We're over, Eric. I'm sorry."

"Then what else is there to think through? If you won't reconsider what the hell do you expect me to do? Yesterday I thought I was the wronged party. I thought you had cheated on me, but today I find out that my beliefs were all based on lies? Sookie, my whole world has just been flipped on its head. You're killing me, you truly are. Please don't give up on us. Please give me a chance to at least make this better, don't walk out on me. I don't think I could handle you walking away from me."

He looked so defeated as he spoke and my heart broke for him. Should I at least give him a chance? My heart was screaming at me to take him back, to give him that second chance, yet it was my head that was telling me he'd only hurt me again, that he'd find some other reason not to trust me. But then there was Oskar to think of, Eric was his dad. Should I give him another chance because of the family we have together?

"I live in New York now …" I was trying to find a reason to not give him that other chance.

"Then I will move to New York then."

I was surprised. "You'd do that?"

"I was leaving Louisiana anyway. I was going to drive off into the sunset, see where the road took me. Maybe even go back to Sweden for a while. I was trying to do anything that would take my mind off you." He chuckled to himself as he recounted his plans.

"And you're not going to do that now?"

"I'm not going to give up on you. I will fight for you, Sookie. So yes, I will move to New York. I have money that I'd saved for us. I'll move to New York to be near you, to be near Oskar. I want you Sookie, I want both of you and I want to be in your life. I will not abandon you again, I promise you that."

I didn't know what to say. Eric would really move to New York for me? But then I didn't want to give him any hope. I wasn't sure that I ever would be able to fully trust him, ever truly forgive him, I didn't want to tell him that I was giving him a second chance, as this is not what it was. If Eric followed me back to New York then that was off his own back. I needed to think things through, and I certainly couldn't do it in Eric's presence.

"Do you still want the paternity test done?" I was quite sure he didn't, but I needed to ask.

"No. I know that he is my son."

Eric was watching me like a hawk as a pulled a small pad out of my bag and I started scribbling down some details. I stood up and he stared up at me with teary eyes. "Please don't leave me, Sookie. Give me another chance. I can't do this without you."

"Do what?"

"Live, breathe. You are my all. I have not lived in the time that you have been gone. I have somehow got through each day to find that I faced the same tests the very next day. It has been a constant struggle without you. I know now that I have no one to blame but myself, but it was been absolute hell for me. Don't walk away from me, I need you."

His face truly was despondent. I took a breath and handed him the piece of paper. "Here is my cell phone number, my land line and my home address. We're leaving tomorrow to go to New Orleans, but we'll be back in New York by next weekend. If you still want us to talk things through further then call me when you arrive."

"What is there left to talk about, Sookie. Have we not covered it all this afternoon?" he asked earnestly.

"No. We haven't talked about custody of Oskar."

I turned and walked away from him so he wouldn't see my own tears. I had held my breath to stifle the sob that was forming in my chest, and I ran through the bushes to get as far away from him as possible before I collapsed into my sobs. I could hear him shouting to me as I walked away from him, but I did not turn around and he did not follow. I wondered if I would see him again in New York or whether I had hurt him too badly that he would not want to see me again.

When back at the car, I wrote him one last note and left it underneath his windscreen wiper before heading back to the farmhouse. My note simply said:

_I love you, Eric.

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_

_I hope that wasn't too melodramatic! This chapter hurt like hell to write -- happier times to come? Who knows._

;)


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry for the delay, real life got in the way this week._

_I never originally planned for things to go this way, but it just kind of happened. _

_Thank you again for your kind reviews.

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_

As I got into the car I noticed the sting of the scratches on my legs from the bushes I had run through, however I was quietly welcoming the pain. As I drove away from the lake I watched Eric's corvette in my mirror until it was gone and replaced by the trees I had passed. I was desperately trying to hold it together, at least until I got home when I planned to hole myself up inside my room and let it all out.

I could not believe that Eric had told me, no, begged me not to leave him, not to walk away from him. What the hell was it that he did to me? Exactly that, and at least I had proof of his unreasonable behaviour. He had walked out on me based on someone else's lies. I knew that I had done the right thing no matter how much it broke my heart to walk away from him. I still loved him, I would probably always love him, but I just didn't think I would be able to fully trust him or forgive him for the hurt he caused me.

As I drove along the tree lined road I wondered whether I would see Eric again. Would he turn up in New York? I wondered how we would sort out custody and would we be able to just be friends. One thing I did know was that I wanted to see Eric again, maybe not straight away as right now I was still mad at him, but I didn't want to cut him out of my life altogether. We shared a beautiful baby son and I wanted Eric's involvement in raising him. Sure, I dreaded that day we were both going to move on, and I was quite certain it would be just as hard for Eric to see me with someone else as it would be for me to see him with another woman.

I thought of Alcide – should I contact him? I certainly found myself attracted to him that night in the club, but right now I was damaged goods. If I were to call him at all it wouldn't be for a while. I needed to grieve for the end of my relationship with Eric. Now that we'd had our talk I knew in my mind that things were over between us. He knew the truth, so things were different to before and I could try and move on, we both could move on.

As I drove, the roads were relatively quiet and I was taking it fairly slowly considering I still had a veil of tears over my eyes, but all of a sudden I noticed that an oncoming car had flicked into my lane. The large black car was heading straight towards me and it seemed to be going fast. I beeped my horn and flashed my lights at him, but it didn't look like the car was intent on stopping. I moved into the left hand lane, hoping that no other traffic would be coming along that stretch of road, but the black car matched my move. I had no option but to drive off the road. To the left was a tall mud embankment which wouldn't have given any room to avoid the oncoming car, so I ended up swerving to the right.

The car hit something as I careered of the road and went into the air slightly before coming back down with a loud and painful bump. I was approaching a thicket of trees at far to fast a pace and my breaking seemed to be making little effect on the dry, loose ground. I span the wheel to the right so the passenger side of the car would take the impact, and in less then a second the car came in contact with a tree and seemed to fold around it. My body seemed to be forced in al directions at once, and I had a huge amount of pain in my right leg and upper body. My head hurt as well from being smashed against the side window, but I was conscious at least.

I tried to move, worried that the car my catch on fire, but I could not. I had a little movement in my upper body, but it was obvious my right leg was trapped, and I could see that I was bleeding heavily in places. I tried to lean to my right to see if I could see my bag, but that was long since lost in the accident. I could feel my head getting woozy, but I did all I could to stay lucid, concentrating on Oskar and hoping that someone would drive past and see me. I hadn't come too far off the road, so I was fairly sure that I'd be seen. But what of the other car – who had driven me off the road like that? I suddenly had a very and feeling that it may have been Bill. What was he doing here, how did he know where I was and what car I was driving? I was beginning to lose my battle with consciousness, and things went black.

I jolted out of unconsciousness aware that someone was touching me.

"It's okay, Miss, you'll be okay, I just need to put this neck brace on you." The unknown man was stood in the doorway of the SUV, leaning over to fasten the brace around my neck.

"Do you remember what happened?" he asked while surveying me for other injuries. I could hear the sound of other emergency services personnel in the background, but I could not see as my head would not move in its current encasing.

I tried to find my voice. "There … there was another car, it came at me on my side of the road. I … I tried to avoid it, but I couldn't." My tears were falling from my eyes, partially in shock, partially from the pain I felt throughout my body, but also for the fact that it could be so much worse, at least I was in one peace.

"Okay, what's your name and address?" I gave the man, who was called David, my details before he gave me some painkillers and held an oxygen mask intermittently over my mouth and nose. He informed me that they would have to cut me out of the SUV, and I tried my best not to panic. I hoped that Oskar would be okay with Amelia and Tray. David was talking to me, trying to get me to stay conscious, and I remember mindlessly telling him that I was born in Bon Temps, but now lived in New York and had a six month old son.

"Oh my god, Sookie, are you alright?" It was Eric's voice that brought me back into consciousness.

I wasn't quite aware of all of my surroundings, but I could tell that David the paramedic was holding Eric back from approaching me.

"Sir, she needs to stay calm. A you a friend? … we're going to have to cut her out of the car, but her leg is badly injured. We need to get her out as soon as possible."

I didn't think I was hearing everything, but Eric was all of a sudden by my side, my left hand in his as he softly spoke to me. I enjoyed hearing the sound of his voice, and it was calming me. The fire crew started work on cutting me out of the car. I yelped in pain as the pressure was increased around my crushed right leg, and David was back with me placing the oxygen mask back over my mouth as I tightly held Eric's hand. I could hear Eric begging me to hold on but the pain was increasing with the second and I was losing control.

I could hear a distant beeping in the room as I began to regain consciousness. My throat was incredibly dry and uncomfortable, and the pain coursing through my body was unbearable. I tried to open my eyes but was blinded by the intense light in what I assumed to be a hospital room. I opened my eyes more slowly allowing my pupils to react to the light in the room. I still couldn't manage to move anything, and quite simply due to the pain in my body I was sure that I didn't want to try and move. I became aware that I was not alone, and heard the familiar sound of Oskar happily gurgling. When I managed to regain my vision I saw that he was in Eric's arms as he softly carried him around in his arms, bouncing and rocking him slightly. It seemed an absolute beautiful thing to watch. I didn't make any sound, but Eric looked over to me, and in seeing my eyes open walked closer to me.

"How are you feeling? You gave us all a huge scare." He softly stroked my hand.

"Uk …. I" I was struggling to find my voice as my mouth was so dry, and Eric thoughtfully poured me a glass of water with his free arm allowing me to drink some water using the straw.

"Thanks. I'm okay, but I hurt like hell …"

"I'll call the doctor. She said that you'd probably be in pain when you woke. I'll be back in a few moments." Eric left the room and obviously went to see the doctor, but I'd wanted to speak to him. He'd hardly looked me in the eye as he spoke, and his mood had seemed to change as soon as he was aware I was awake.

A few minutes later the doctor came in without Eric and she asked me how I felt, did some tests and checks and increased my pain medication, which almost instantaneously made me feel much better and more relaxed. She explained that my leg had been trapped in the car and badly broken in three places. I also had four cracked ribs, though all other internal organs seemed okay. I'd also hit my head hard in the accident, and apparently had a small brain haemorrhage when I arrived at hospital, though they were able to stem the bleeding quickly. I was amazed to hear that I had been unconscious in a coma for nearly a week as my body healed. She also informed me that I would need extensive physiotherapy which would be started in the hospital, but could be continued as an outpatient.

But how was I going to cope with having a six month old child when I could hardly move, and how was I going to get to Shreveport for the physio? Bon Temps hospital was far to small to have such units. I also began to panic about my health insurance. Eric and I had had pretty extensive cover for both of us, but mine was no where near as good – was I going to be left with a massive bill at the end. I wondered where Amelia and Tray were and began to panic more about the situation.

The doctor, who had since left, came swiftly back into my room as some alarm went off.

"Sookie, you need to keep calm, otherwise I will have to sedate you further. Your body needs to heal, and you need to keep your blood pressure down."

"But how am I going to have physio? How am I going to look after my son?" I began to sob gently.

"Can your boyfriend not help you?"

Boyfriend? Obviously Eric had been telling a few lies to be able to stay with me in my room. "But he works, and anyway, I live in New York with my friend. Where is Amelia?" Eric entered back into the room, this time with his parents, Isabel and Gustaf.

The doctor nodded to Eric and his parents and left. Isabel and Gustaf both looked at me with kind and sympathetic eyes, but Eric seemed more distant. He still had Oskar in his arms who was now asleep. It was Isabel that spoke to me.

"Sookie, Amelia and Tray had to return to New York as Tray had a call the day after you accident that his father had had a heart attack. We think he's okay, but obviously Tray and Amelia had to go back to New York, you understand that don't you? Amelia has been phoning twice a day to check up on you, and she'll be so relieved to know that you're awake."

A stray tear had unexpectedly leaked from my eye, and I painfully wiped it away with my less painful left arm. "Of course I understand that she'd go back with Tray. Please tell her I'm okay and I'll try and speak to her when I can." A few more tears had escaped and Isabel looked increasingly concerned.

"Sookie, what's wrong? You're okay, you're safe now."

"How," I sobbed, "how am I going to cope when I can hardly move? What about Oskar? I can't look after him in the state I'm in. I need to get transferred to New York so Amelia can help me, I know she won't mind setting up a bed for me on the first floor …"

"My dear, Eric and Oskar have both been staying with us, and you know perfectly well that we have plenty of room for you as well." I was about to open my mouth to protest, how could I possibly live under the same roof as Eric considering what had gone on between us and I knew that he was hurting at my rejection of him. "I won't accept no for an answer. You're Oskar's mother which means that you're part of this family now, no matter what has gone on between you and Eric. I know that you both want to be friends, so this is the ideal opportunity. Sookie, I've always seen you as a second daughter considering the length of time that you two were together, and I hope that you will forgive us for the way we acted at your Gran's funeral. Allow us to look after you by means of saying sorry, please Sookie."

I could hardly say no as I didn't really have an option – Jason was certainly not an option considering I still wasn't talking to him and he only had a small apartment up some stairs. Eric had obviously told his parents about our conversation, and at least they too now believed that I hadn't cheated on Eric. I'd always got on very well with Eric's parents, so I didn't really have any objections at living there. Except for the fact of living with Eric was going to be difficulty.

"Of course, and thank you." I smiled at them.

Suddenly I was reminded me of the black Cadillac that had been hurtling towards me down the wrong side of the road and causing my accident.

"It was Bill."

"What?" Eric hissed, causing both of his parents to spin their heads around to look at him and for Oskar to wake in his arms.

"The other car, I think it was Bill driving."

They were all silent for a moment. Had they not realised another car had been involved? "We assumed that you lost control of the car, are you sure it was him?" Gustaf asked me, speaking for the first time.

"I couldn't be one hundred per cent sure, but it was a similar car to the one he owned and he was driving on my side of the road heading straight for me. I tried to avoid him, I tried to avoid an accident, but he matched my every move until I swung off the road." My tears were falling freely.

"Where did he go?"

"No idea, I don't remember seeing him after I crashed. But how did he know I was here back in Bon Temps? As far as I know he thinks I'm in New York."

Eric spoke up. "Sook, you said yesterday that you thought your house might have been bugged – that your Gran always seemed scared of Bill even within her own home. What if they're still there?"

I shuddered thinking that Bill may have been listening in to my conversations with Amelia and Tray, and I was truly beginning to feel very scared at what Bill might do – not only to me but to Oskar and Eric as well. I could not help sobbing a little at my thoughts of Bill, and Eric came up beside me, Oskar now asleep in his arms again.

"You'll be okay, honest, we'll talk to the police and report him. I won't let Bill get to you."

"I'm not just scared about myself! Bill's a total psychopath, who knows if he'll stop at me. He may come for Oskar or you! I couldn't forgive myself if that happened."

"My dear, this is not you fault." Isabel said, "You must not blame yourself for any of this. As Eric said we will speak to the police and you can lodge a complaint against him. If we find that there are bugs in your house then that will be evidence against him." I smiled weakly at Isabel, feeling very weak and sleepy. "I can see that you're tired. We'll go now, but we'll back tomorrow and I'll let Amelia know that you're okay."

"Thank you, all of you." That second bit said specifically to Eric, I was certain that this could be a lot worse if it wasn't for Eric. Not only him holding my hand after the crash, but he easily could have spoken against me staying with his parents. I was dreading that to some extent, but it was a large house and I was sure they'd give me my freedom – once I could move on my own, anyway. I fully intended to return to New York as soon as I could as neither Eric or I were going to be able to move on with the other constantly around. At least I hoped he wasn't going to straight away.

I awoke the next day to see a huge bouquet of flowers sat on the table in the room. My initial thought was that they were from Eric and I wondered what he'd got me them for, but as I turned my head I noticed that Jason was sat perched uncomfortably on the edge of his seat looking meekly at me. I felt myself tense up as I saw him and wished that I could leave the room, as I wasn't sure that I could deal with Jason at that time.

He obviously noticed my expression. "Please, Sook, hear me out."

"Well, I don't really have much choice do I given that I can't exactly move." I spat at him.

He winced slightly. "I deserved that. Please let me apologise to you, please know that I am sorry for the way I treated you, sorry that I didn't believe you. I guess I knew that you weren't the kind of person to cheat, and I knew how much you'd always loved him. But I guess when Eric and Gran believed Bill …"

"Don't you dare blame this on Eric and Gran, Jason Stackhouse! You do have a mind of your own – you don't have to be such a fucking sheep! I'm your sister, you were supposed to believe me."

"But Gran –"

"Bill was manipulating Gran as well. She was scared of him. I don't know whether she truly believed me or not, and I guess we'll never know, but I do know that she was scared of Bill. I think he thought Gran was going to leave him the house in her will. He looked shocked when it was left to Eric and I."

"Shit, he was really that bad?"

"He's just tried to kill me – how bad can he get?"

"This is his fault as well? What happened?"

I explained to Jason what had happened, how what I was now sure to be Bill's car had been coming down the wrong side of the road right at me, how we thought that the old farmhouse may still be bugged. Jason apologised profusely, almost grovelling, and although it would take time to rebuild our relationship he was the only family I had left and I was determined not to lose him as well. I promised Jason that I would let him meet his nephew, and that he should call Eric and arrange a time when they could all be here.

I'd gotten to speak to Amelia, assuring her that I was okay and on the mend. She felt very guilty about leaving me to go back to New York with Tray but I assured her I wouldn't have expected her to stay, that she was right to go with him. His dad was recovering well, and likely to be back to full strength shortly, but it had shaken Tray. I also told Amelia all about my conversation with Eric, and she told me I'd done the right thing in not taking him back. I just wish that I felt more sure about that.

Almost moments after hanging up on Amelia, Eric knocked on the door and I indicated for him to come in. He didn't have Oskar with him so I assumed that his parents were looking after him.

"Hey you."

"Hey, Eric. Oskar with your mum?"

"Yes, I think she wanted me out of the way so she could have him to herself." I smiled, but I felt strangely jealous that he had the family that I didn't. I wished Gran could have met her great-grandson, I knew that she would have loved him and doted on him like nothing else. "You miss her, don't you."

He knew I'd been thinking of Gran. Eric could always seem to be able to read my mind at times. "Every day. I just wish she could have met Oskar, he's such a great kid – she'd have loved him."

"Of course she would, I'd challenge anyone not to love him."

I smiled. "Spoken like a true new father."

We both sat in silence for a while, neither one of us knowing quite what to say. When the silence was starting to get uncomfortable Eric spoke up and quietly said the unsaid words between us.

"Is it truly over between us? Can you not forgive me, give me another chance?" His eyes were hopeful and it broke my heart to destroy that hope.

"I'm sorry, Eric, I just don't think I can. I think we both need to move on with our lives."

"That's not going to be easy when we have Oskar …"

"Well yeah, but, I mean, I'll be in New York and you'll be in Louisiana so …," he cut me off.

"I told you, I will move to New York to be close to you and Oskar, I want to be part of his life. I want to be part of your life."

"Please don't make this difficult for me! Eric, this is so hard. I love you so much, I truly do, but I know that I could not survive again what happened before."

"But it won't happen again – I promise you that I will never hurt you again. I will never leave you again, and I will never distrust you again. Believe me, Sookie, please believe me."

I was sobbing freely, my heart literally breaking in my chest. I was longing for him to hold me with all that I was, I wanted his touch, his warm lips against mine, his eyes on my own as we made love. But there remained that small voice of reason that was telling me that once the trust was broken it could never fully be rebuilt. And could I truly forgive the hurt that he had caused me? I knew I was hurting him in not giving us another chance, but the little voice was telling me that I was doing the right thing. I only hoped that the voice was right.

Eric had come closer to me and was holding me hand as he leaned over the bed and stroked my hair with his other hand.

"I love you, Sookie. I need you."

"How can you say that you need me when you're that one that split up with me in the first place – where was your need then?"

He froze for a second and then sank defeated back into his chair, but pulled it closer to me. "I was hurt and angry. I wasn't being rational, I was simply driven by blood lust and anger and I wanted you to hurt in the way I did. It almost killed me when I thought that you had cheated on me."

"But I hadn't …" I started to protest.

"Please let me say my piece. I know now that you didn't cheat on me, but then I believed him. I thought I had seen the evidence that proved you had cheated on me. I was destroyed. I loved you so much, but right then I hated that you would have betrayed me. All the time that we were apart I found it eating away at me, I quickly began to realise how much I did need you. But by then it was too late, you were gone and no one knew where you were. I had no idea you'd be in New York – I thought maybe New Orleans, but not over a thousand miles away. I was going to try and find you, to see if we could work it out, but then I got your phone call telling me that you were pregnant and I was livid. I hadn't expected you to call, I was caught off guard. I'm sorry that I was so rude to you, I have nightmares now about the way I spoke to you back then. Forgive me?"

He looked at me earnestly. "Of course, things were different then from now. I want us to be friends, I want us to both be parents to Oskar. But I just don't think I can do anything more. I'm sorry."

We both sat in silence again. Was I doing the right thing? Eric had slouched back into his chair and was staring at the ceiling, his hair hanging down from the back of his head. I found myself desperate to run my fingers through those luscious locks one last time, but tried to keep thoughts like that at bay.

There was a knock at the door that broke the silence as the physiotherapist stood outside my room. I turned back to Eric as he took my hand an kissed it gently. "Can I have some time?" he asked. "I need some time to think. Oskar will be fine with my parents, but right now I need to get away."

"Of course, as long as your parents are happy with that."

He gave me a half smile but I could see the hurt deep within him. He probably did need to do some soul searching, and was certain that I did to. He walked out of the room and let the physiotherapist in.


	8. Chapter 8

_This chapter is a little violent in places, so please be warned._

_Thanks for your continued reviews - you're all so great!

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I didn't see Eric for the remaining two weeks that I was in hospital. I'd been having extensive physiotherapy every day and I was back on my feet, to some extent anyway. It was taking time to rebuild my strength in my damaged right leg, and my cracked and bruised ribs were certainly not helping my mobility. It was also that which was causing me the most problems with lifting Oskar who seemed to have got much heavier in the past couple of weeks. Isabel and Gustaf had been fantastic. They'd come to see me every day, bringing Oskar in with them and were helping me with my exercises that the physiotherapist had left me.

But I could tell that they were very concerned about Eric. After leaving my hospital room two weeks previous he'd gone back to his apartment, packed a bag and disappeared, not even taking his prized corvette. He left a note in his flat to say that he had gone away, but no one had heard from him since and he was not answering his phone or picking up his email. I suspected that his parents and Pam were putting on a brave face when they were around me, but I was more than enough worried about him myself. And quite a large part of that worry involved Bill. Was Bill just out to get me or would he hurt Eric as well. My only hope was that if his parents didn't know where he was then Bill wouldn't.

On the day that I was being discharged Gustaf came to pick me up while Isabel was looking after Oskar. I was anxious about living in their home with them, but I didn't really have any other option. In some ways I was also slightly glad that Eric wasn't around when I moved in, but wished that he would at least make contact with his parents to let us all know he was alright. They lived in a large colonial style home which was mostly over one floor, with a huge garden and swimming pool. I'd already had some therapy in a pool and had been told that swimming would be a good way to build up my fitness and strength, so I intended to fully utilise their pool when I could.

Gustaf arrived a little early as I needed to see the physiotherapist one last time before I was allowed to leave.

"How are you feeling Sookie? Ready to leave?"

"Definitely. I have grown very tired of these four walls! Have you heard anything from Eric?" It had almost become our customary greeting, and they knew that I was as concerned about him as they were.

"No. But I did want to ask your opinion about something. I'm considering hiring a private investigator. Partly to try and find Eric, but also to find Bill and see what he's up to. That he tried to kill you means that neither you, Eric or Oskar are safe until Bill is found. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a good idea, would you contact Eric or just to find out he's all right?"

"His mother is worried about him, we all are." He looked a little pensive for a moment. "You do want to see him, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I want us to be friends, I want him to be a father to Oskar. I thought that the time he spent with Oskar while I was in the coma would be enough time to bond with him, that he wouldn't leave. I was obviously wrong."

"We all thought that as well. I know Isabel and I have certainly bonded with that little boy, it will be very sad when you take him back to New York with you."

I was quite glad to be interrupted by the physiotherapist as she came into the room so I didn't have to respond to that comment. She gave me an appointment list of times to come and see her as an outpatient, and also a new list of exercises for me to try. With my stuff packed up, I was forced to sit in a wheelchair while Gustaf and the physiotherapist wheeled me out of the hospital. I'd also been given some crutches to use and a prescription for some strong pain killers. I was wheeled as far as the SUV and Gustaf helped me in and buckled in before getting in the drivers side. I couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about being in a car, and knew I would be even more worried about driving myself, but I knew it would be best if I could get back behind the wheel as soon as possible.

We made idle talk on our journey back to Bon Temps, and on arrival Pam and Isabel were both waiting for me, Oskar on Pam's hip. They helped me into the house and deposited me in my new home for the next few weeks while I rebuilt my strength. The room I was in was next to Eric's old room and I wasn't sure if I'd been placed there deliberately, or whether it was because it was the largest of the spare rooms. It had its own en-suite bathroom with a large tub and walk-in shower and Oskar's cot had been set up in the room from when Amelia had obviously brought my stuff over.

I'd spoken to Amelia quite a few times since the accident, and she'd offered to come down and get me if I wasn't up for flying back up to New York. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be staying here, and in some ways that depended on whether Eric was going to put in an appearance. Once settled into my room I called her.

"Hey, Amelia, how are you? How's Tray"

"All's good thanks. Are you at the in-laws now?" It annoyed me that she called them my in-laws, but in some ways it was the easiest way to describe them, they were at least Oskar's family if not mine.

"Yup, and don't I feel like a total invalid? I have crutches that I can hobble around on, but I can hardly do much else. I'm going to feel so bad since they'll be practically waiting on me."

"Sook, they did offer. And they know you well enough to know that you're not taking advantage of them. Any news of the boy wonder?"

Amelia had been much angrier at Eric for leaving than I had, and was astounded that I was not more mad at him for leaving. The reason that I wasn't angry at him, other than for causing his family worry, was that running was the exact thing I would have done in his situation. Things had changed hugely for him in a few days, and I understood that he needed to have some time to think things through. I did find myself wondering as the days went on that maybe he didn't want to know his son, that he didn't want to see me any more or that maybe he had met someone else. But then as we technically weren't together I could hardly pass any judgement on him if that was the case.

"No. Gustaf is considering hiring a private investigator to try and find him. And Bill for that matter."

"Sounds like a good idea re Bill. Eric should know better then to take off and not contact his family for two weeks."

"I'm sure he has his reasons, he …"

"Sookie, will you stop defending him!" She shouted at me. "Jeez, the guy is an ass. Sookie, hun, he left you again. Do you not get it? He broke up with you and pushed you away when he thought that you had cheated on him without even asking you about it, he refused to talk to you when you told him you were pregnant with his child, he still refused to believe you at your Gran's funeral, and now he leaves when he doesn't get his way this time. And to top it all off _he_ has the audacity to beg you not to leave him when he finally got round to believing that you didn't cheat on him."

My tears had started sliding down my face as I realised just how right Amelia was. I guess I had known this all along, but had just refused to believe it. But Amelia hadn't finished with me just yet.

"Sookie, do you not see that he is the one who is always pushing you away? None of this has been your fault, it is all on him. He's not even here for you and your son now. He told you that he'd move to New York with you, but he can't even be in his own home with you to help you recover. Who knows where he is? Who knows who he's with?"

I was sobbing freely now. "Amelia, please don't. Don't."

"I'm sorry Sook, but you need to realise the truth, look at it from an outsider's perspective. He has done nothing but hurt you these last few years, and when he can't get what he wants he does a runner."

"He told me he would never hurt me again," I sobbed.

"But his leaving again has done just that hasn't it. Can you not say that things would be different if he'd stuck around and supported you these past two weeks?" I didn't say anything, but she was completely right. I tried to regain control of my breathing and reached over gingerly to grab a tissue off the night stand and dried my eyes. Neither of us spoke for a few moments until my breathing had returned to normal.

"I saw Alcide this morning ..."

"Amelia!" I complained. It was too soon for me to even think about moving on, and I certainly didn't want her playing matchmaker or leading Alcide on as I was not ready for any kind of relationship with any man.

"What? I was jogging this morning and I bumped into him as he was walking his dog. He asked about you, asked if you'd seen Eric."

"And what exactly did you tell him?" I asked with a dangerous tone in my voice.

"I told him that you had seen your ex, that you weren't back together, but that you had been in a car accident caused by the psychopath who split the two of you up."

"And?" Despite myself I was interested in what Alcide had to say.

"He said that he hoped you were okay, and that he may give you a call. To which I said it was a good idea."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea! I'm staying with Eric's parents! I can hardly have other men phoning me up while I'm here."

"Why not? Its not as if Eric's there since he walked out on you again!"

I could hear Isabel calling to me. "Amelia, you're not making things easier for me. Look. I need to go, but I'll speak to you later."

We both hung up and I slowly made my way into the kitchen where Isabel had made dinner. I was certain that it was obvious I'd been crying, but no comment was made. I made polite conversation with Isabel and Gustaf that evening, and we all played with Oskar keeping him amused. I was still sleeping a lot due to my pain medication, so I excused myself and Oskar, putting him down to sleep before crawling in bed myself and crying myself to sleep.

After we few days Gustaf told me that he had instructed PI's to try and find Eric and Bill, and although not much information was immediately found about Bill Compton, it was established that Eric's credit card had been used that day in New Orleans. Had Eric been there the whole time, or was he on his way back? Somehow the PI managed to get hold of some security camera footage as well, and I could see the relief in both of his parents that he was okay. They decided to give him a few more days to come home before they went to more active measures to get hold of him, and we all agreed that we wouldn't tell him about the investigators if we didn't have to.

I had settled in after a few days and began to feel more comfortable. I was attending the hospital a few times a week to have intense physio sessions, and through doing the exercises at home I was getting stronger all the time. Isabel and Gustaf were great with Oskar and allowed me the time to recover my strength.

It was about a week after I'd come out of hospital, and Isabel and Gustaf had taken Oskar out for the day with them to run some errands. I didn't like to be away from him, but I also knew how much they enjoyed spending time with him so I was happy to let them take him for the day. I decided that as I had some quiet in the house I'd have a morning swim. I opted for a bikini as it was easier to get on, I grabbed a towel and went out to the pool the water was refreshing as I got in, slowly swimming lengths of the pool.

When I started to get tired I slowly pulled myself out of the pool, but felt my leg give way on me as I collapsed back onto the stone floor in agony, my hands grabbing onto the metal of the steps as I fell so that I didn't bang my head. I looked down at my leg and instantly felt sick as I noticed that one of the metal pins that had to be used to hold my leg together was protruding. I was bleeding quite heavily and I knew I needed to put some pressure on it to stop the bleeding, but my towel was quite some distance away and the phone even further. I felt seriously sick and in that instant incredibly scared. I tried not to look at my damaged right leg as I tried to shuffle myself to the sun lounger where I had dumped my towel, but I soon found myself getting too weak and light headed from the blood loss, and despite my best efforts I lost consciousness.

I woke with cold water splashed into my face to find someone stroking my body and holding my hand. I prayed to god that it was Eric, but the dark hair and cruel eyes told me otherwise. Bill. I instantly panicked, bile rising in my mouth as I tried to move away from him. He hit me on my injured leg and I yelped in pain.

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. There's no point screaming now. No one will hear you. Though personally, I think I might like it. Having you scream my name, anyway." He leered at me as I sobbed hard trying to work out what the hell I could do. He was stroking my body all over as I tried to recoil from his touch.

"Get off me." I spat as he laughed harder. "Why Bill? Why try and kill me, why ruin my relationship with Eric? What have I ever done to you?"

He laughed snidely. "You really don't have a clue, do you. I used to watch you playing in the cemetery between our houses as a kid. I always wanted you, so blonde and lovely and innocent, but I always knew you wanted him. But I was going to have you first."

"What do you mean? I don't understand, I never knew you as a child. Your grandfather lived in that house, I never remember anyone else there."

"Well you wouldn't, would you." His voice was bitter and evil. "My parents used to ship me to that house for every holiday, but my grandfather never used to let me outside. He was a cruel man and used to beat me, locking me in my bedroom. I used to watch you along with your brother and that fuck of an ex-boyfriend of yours. Shame he disappeared when he did, I had my own vengeance for him planned for taking you from me."

"He didn't take me from you! I'd never met you until you moved to Bon Temps."

"Well you would have had Quinn not been such an idiot," he spat.

Quinn? "What the hell does Quinn have to do with this?"

"I knew that you were at LSU, and I knew of Quinn so paid him to get you drunk and try to assault you at that party. I was supposed to come in and rescue you from him, but no, fucking Northman got there first. It was my own fault for not making sure he wasn't properly out of the way as well as your brother."

"Jason?"

"Yes, I organised that trip for him and his girlfriend. I guess I hadn't banked on Northman being there since he had a date that night."

He was silent for a moment as I tried to compose myself and take in what he'd told me. I still couldn't quite understand what I had done wrong, but I understood that he truly was a psychopath.

"Of course, that fuck Quinn told the police about me so I had to lay low for a while, but I knew I'd get to you eventually Sookie. So you'll be coming with me now, and you will be mine. Northman will not find you as he is racked with guilt in New Orleans after he slept with another woman, so don't count on him coming to the rescue. And you know as well as I do that his parents will not be back until much later on."

Eric had slept with someone else? My heart shattered into a thousand pieces as I lay sobbing on the floor. Sure I probably had no reason to be upset or jealous that he had slept with someone else, but I was truly heartbroken. I could hear Bill laughing at me as I cried, and he pushed me onto my back.

"Sookie, trust me, you will have much more to cry about by the time I am done with you." He let out a laugh as I shivered with fear. What was he going to do with me? I soon found out as he removed my bikini top despite my protests and started roughly handling and sucking at my breasts. I was crying out begging him to stop, begging him not to rape me. He laughed cruelly at my pleas and tears and seemed to be spurred on by my protests so I did everything I could to keep quiet.

However as he untied the ties of my bikini bottoms I could not help but scream out, begging him not to touch me. I tried to hit him in the groin, did all that I could to get him off me, but he was too strong and I was too weak. I felt myself drift out of consciousness but Bill slapped me hard across my face telling me that he wanted me awake.

"Police! Step away from the girl." I had no idea where the voice had come from, but Bill froze and looked over in the direction of the voice. From where I was I couldn't see who it was.

"Now Compton, step away from her." How did the police officer know Bill's name? Bill stood up and moved away from me and I heard footsteps coming from the direction of the police officer.

"Stay where you are and put your hands in the air where I can see them," he barked out the order to Bill as I tried too crane my head so I could see the approaching police officers. Bill had obviously moved as a shot rang out and Bill collapsed to the floor clutching his thigh. He was instantly captured by police officers, cuffed and led away out of my sight.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and silently sobbed as I felt a large towel being draped over me. I had completely forgotten about the fact that I'd been lying there completely naked and recoiled in horror.

"Sookie, you're okay now. You're safe. Bill Compton will be in jail for a very long time, if not for the rest of his life."

I looked up to see Alcide looking down at me. What the hell was he doing here? "Alcide? Why are you … what is …"

"It's okay Sookie. I'll explain later, right now we need to get you to hospital to deal with your leg. Did he do that to you?"

"No, I went for a swim and slipped as my leg gave way underneath me."

He looked down kindly at me as the paramedics came up and started attending to me. "Where is your son?"

"He's with Eric's parents. Can you tell them what has happened, my phone is inside on the kitchen table. Please phone Isabel for me."

"I will do that."

"Thank you, Alcide. I dread to think what would have happened had you not shown up when you did."

The paramedics carted me off to hospital, but at least this time I remembered the journey. On my arrival I was assessed and then taken back up to surgery to fix my leg injury. When I woke after surgery my leg was in plaster and I was alone and quite certain that I was in the same room as before, not believing that I had to spend more time in the godforsaken room.

I was highly aware that I had had a very lucky escape. Bill would have no doubt raped me by that pool and then who knows what else. I had no idea how Alcide knew where I was, but suspected that Amelia may have told him more than she had let on. A doctor came in to check on me now that I was awake, and I was told it was the middle of the night, hence no visitors. I tried to go back to sleep but could only think of Eric. Had he slept with someone else? Was that why he was avoiding coming back, did he feel guilty? I wanted to see him, I had missed him, but I could not help at feeling betrayed. I knew we would both move on, but so soon? Maybe that was why he was racked with guilt as Bill had put it. But then how did Bill know? How did he know where Eric was and that he had slept with someone else? Had Bill orchestrated that as well? I had questions that needed answering.

I awoke the next morning to see Amelia and Tray sat by my bed.

"Hey Sook, how are you feeling?"

"Okay, I think. How come you're here?"

She smiled. "Alcide called, told us what happened."

"I don't understand why Alcide turned up when he did, how did he know?"

"I don't know all of the details, you'll have to talk to him, but it seems that Bill Compton was a wanted man across many states. He's a wanted rapist and murderer in New York. It seems when I mentioned Bill to Alcide he recognised the name, did a few back ground checks and realised that the man they wanted was in fact the same Bill Compton. They got me to ID him. Alcide expected that he may still come after you after trying to kill you in the car accident, so he went to Bon Temps with back up from Shreveport PD and got there just in time."

"Shit. I guess I owe your large mouth a favour!" I joked, though I may also have been deadly serious.

She smiled. "You can come back to New York with us if you want, we haven't booked our flights back yet and we can easily rent an SUV and drive back. We can convert the dining room into a temporary bedroom for you until you can manage the stairs, and you know I'll help you with the monster."

Did I want to go back to New York? Considering what had happened at Eric's parents place I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to go back there, but then I didn't want to upset them, and it would mean taking their grandson away from them again.

It seemed like a good idea, but I needed to know about Eric first. "Has he come back?"

"Not of his own free will. After what happened with Bill, Gustaf tracked him down in New Orleans that day and went to get him. He was apparently out of his face drunk in some New Orleans hotel room. They're with him now. It seems he's in quite a sorry state."

"I need to see him. I need to speak to him." I could tell that there was more that she wasn't telling me. "What is it Amelia?"

"Sook, I didn't want to have to tell you this. He apparently had a woman in his bed when Gustaf found him. He shouted obscenities at his dad as he turned up, and Gustaf had to call security to help him move him. I'm sorry, Sook."

Bill had already told me that he probably slept with another woman, but then I wondered if he had actually done it. That Gustaf had found him with another woman was infinitely worse. But did I have any right to be angry? It wasn't as if we were together any more.

We were interrupted by Alcide knocking at the door along with another officer. I indicated for him to come in. "How are you Sookie?"

"I'm okay. And thank you for turning up when you did."

"I'm sorry we didn't get their earlier. Sookie, the man is well known in New York as a murderer and rapist. He's been on the most wanted list for some time. I'm just sorry that he assaulted you in the way he did before he got there. We will need to take a statement from you when you are up to it, but we should have more than enough evidence against him. And him being arrested in Louisiana certainly isn't going to help him." I had a feeling I knew what that meant.

Alcide arranged a time when he'd come and take my statement, but for the time being I was glad that Amelia was with me and we chatted about everything but Bill or Eric. After a few hours of chatting with Amelia and Tray there was a knock at the door as Isabel and Gustaf stood at the door of my room, Oskar in the carry cot held by Gustaf. I indicated for them to come in and they sat the opposite side to Amelia and Tray.

"Are you okay, my dear? We are so sorry, please forgive us for leaving you. I truly am so sorry." Isabel looked like she had tears in her eyes as she spoke to me.

"Isabel, its okay. No one could know what Bill had planned. I don't blame you, honestly." I smiled at them conveying my sincerity.

"Yes, but we should have been there for you. We promised Eric we would look after the two of you."

I couldn't help but wince at Eric's name. "How is he? He's at home?"

"He is. We tried to get him to come with us, but he is too ashamed of himself. Sookie, he's devastated at what he did. He never meant to hurt you, he didn't intend on being with other women."

"Isabel, its fine, its not as if we're together any longer, he's entitled to see other women …"

"That's not how he sees it. He left to have some time to think. He went back to Sweden for a week to clear his head. He did some soul searching, realised how he had messed things up with you, how wrong he had been. Even how he didn't have the right to ask you to stay with him, to forgive him. And then he flew back into New Orleans with intentions to come back home and see you, be your friend and a dad to Oskar. He didn't want to force you into anything more, all he wanted was to be there for you and your son. But then he woke one morning to find a woman in his bed. Sookie he's a broken man. He had no idea why she was there, how she was there as he had no memory of the night before. The woman didn't remember either. After that he was pulled into a downward spiral, he drank a huge amount, and when Gustaf found him yesterday he was in a sorry state. He can't forgive himself for what he has done, and that he wasn't here to protect you from Bill. He's killing himself over this, Sookie."

Isabel had tears streaming from her eyes as she spoke. "You're concerned about him?"

"Very. He's in a bad way. He wasn't even this bad when the two of you split the first time."

I looked over to Amelia who had remained silent throughout my conversation with Isabel. I knew that she was by no means a fan of Eric's right now, but I knew I had to be a friend to him. I suspected that Bill may well have set him up, with the first woman at least.

"Amelia, I think I'm going to stay with Isabel for a bit longer, if that's okay, of course," I said turning to Isabel as she smiled smiled and nodded at me. "I need to speak to Eric. I need to tell him this is not wholly his fault."

Amelia scoffed. "I don't see why! Well, Tray and I will stay in Louisiana until you are ready. We didn't get to see my dad last time, so we'll go and see him, and when you want to go back we can do so."

I was grateful to Amelia for sticking by me, but I knew she would not understand why I wanted to talk to Eric. I needed for the two of us to be friends, we needed to work on things together. I had to agree that Eric leaving when he did was probably not the right thing for him to have done, but it was done now and we needed to address our issues for the sake of our son. Now Bill was out of the way we could safely move on, and I needed to put Oskar ahead of anything else,


	9. Chapter 9

I was quite surprised when the doctors told me that I could go home later that day. With my leg now in plaster there wasn't much physio that could be done until the cast was off, though as it was only up to my knee my mobility shouldn't be affected too badly. When I didn't have Oskar with me anyway, it was still going to be tough to look after him. I hadn't told anyone about what Bill had said or done to me, although I was going to have to give a statement to the police. I couldn't even bring myself to tell Amelia that I was very nearly raped.

For the second time in just over a week I was wheeled out of the hospital to Gustaf's SUV. Amelia told me she'd be in contact and that if I ever needed her for anything she'd be with me within a couple of hours. She'd made it perfectly clear that she wasn't happy I was going to see Eric, and didn't feel that I should be talking to him at all. I promised her that I would let her know if I wanted to go back to New York with her, and promised that I would call her the next day.

The journey back to Bon Temps was quiet after Isabel had yet again apologised for leaving me alone in the house. I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, but it was quite evident she was racked with guilt that Bill had found me alone at their house. As we were approaching Bon Temps, Isabel turned in her seat and looked to me.

"Sookie, Eric was in quite a state when we left him. He stayed last night at our house and we had Pam stay with him today to keep an eye on him as he's really not in a good way. He doesn't know anything about what has happened with Bill. I beg you to be gentle with him. I know that I have no right to ask you that other than being his mother, but I'm not sure how much more he can take, he's in a very dark place because of what he has done."

"You mean about what happened in New Orleans?"

"Not only that. He feels hugely guilty because of everything that he has done to you. He realises that the break up of your relationship is solely his fault, that your son won't have two parents together because of him."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Sure, it was his fault, but it was Bill's manipulation of us all that brought about Eric's mistrust of me. Eric taking all of that upon him was not going to be good for him, and I didn't want to see him suffer. I still loved him after all. But then there was the issue of him sleeping with other women in New Orleans. We weren't together, and at least one of those was probably set up by Bill Compton, but I felt so hurt that he'd been so quick to fall into the arms of another woman.

Before I could think things through further we'd arrived at the house, and I was being helped out of the car. Pam came outside to greet us.

"He's a fucking child, he really is."

"Pamela!" Gustaf scolded.

"Well, he is. He won't come out of his room and I'm fairly certain he's drunk again. I think, dad, you need to be locking up your liqueur supply while he's in this mood." She turned to me, obviously surprised at seeing me there. "Sookie, how are you? I didn't think you'd come back. Are you going to talk to him?"

"I'm fine, leg absolutely kills, but I'll be okay. And yes, I do want to talk to him, if he's willing."

"Good, I think you're the only one he may actually listen to. He was crying all last night, and quite simply that is not something I ever want to hear my brother doing, other than have sex anyway. He was always so strong, so proud. He's completely broken right now."

I didn't know what to say so just gave her a half smile as she helped me inside while Gustaf carried Oskar. Isabel informed me that her, Oskar and Gustaf would be in the summer house, which was situated at the opposite end of the house to where the bedrooms were. It was evident that they wanted to give Eric and I some privacy as Pam joined them once she was happy I could move around the house okay with my crutches. It felt very strange being there considering what had nearly gone on, and I looked out onto the pool area but saw no sign of what had happened there the previous day.

It was certainly going to take me time to get used to the crutches, but I hobbled my way to the kitchen and heated up the Chinese food we'd picked up on the way back from the hospital. I took a deep breath and made my way slowly to Eric's room figuring that he probably wouldn't come out of his own accord.

I knocked softly on his door and waited, holding my breath so I could check for sound within the room. When I heard nothing, I knocked again, louder, this time.

"Go away!" he grunted from somewhere within the room.

I knocked one more time hoping that he would come and unlock the door. "Pam, just fuck off and leave me alone, I don't need you snarking at me right now."

He really wasn't in a pleasant mood. I took another breath to calm myself and knocked one last time. "Eric, it's Sookie. I have Chinese food in the kitchen." I figured mentioning the food may bring him out of his shell.

He didn't respond but I heard movement within his room and the sound of his door unlocking. He opened his bedroom door and looked at me through red eyes. He looked truly awful. He was unshaven, his hair was a mess of tangles and he had dark circles underneath his red, swollen eyes. He was dressed only in a pair of black sleep pants and a tight black wife-beater.

My eyes met his for a brief moment before he dropped his eyes to the floor as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Why are you here?" he asked me, his voice breaking slightly.

"I wanted to talk to you, we need to clear the air before …" I stopped, not knowing quite what to say. Did I mean before I left to go back to New York?

"Before you leave, you mean." He walked out of his room, bottle of whiskey in his hand, passing me but not meeting my eyes. I followed him slowly and painfully on my crutches to the kitchen. He'd got out two plates and was serving the food as I pulled out a chair and needfully sat down. "Do you want a drink?" he asked, his back still to me.

"Please, water would be good."

"Sure you don't want anything stronger? I am." He poured himself a large glass of whiskey and swallowed it quickly before pouring another one and placing it on the table along with my water. We served up the food which Eric hungrily devoured but I only picked at.

After he'd finished eating and had downed his second glass of whiskey he got up to pour another. I wasn't about to let him become an alcoholic over this. "Eric, please. You don't need to drink."

He span on his heels. "I can assure you that it is about the only thing keeping me going right now!" He poured another glass and slammed it down on the table, causing me to jump slightly. He sat down on the wooden chair heavily and looked over to me. "What happened to your leg, I don't remember it being in plaster last time I saw you. Why were you in hospital?"

I didn't think now was the time for the whole story of Bill. "I fell getting out of the pool and hurt it more. One of the pins was sticking out of my leg and I had to have further surgery. No swimming for me this time!" I joked, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

"You don't have to be here. I don't need or deserve your sympathy. Just let me be. I fucked up, I know that. I have fucked up everything for both of us, Oskar as well. The two of you deserve better than me. I will support him financially, but I don't want to intrude on your life any more. Thank you for the food, it was very thoughtful of you, but you don't have to be here, you can do better elsewhere." He got up to leave the table and sulk back to his room.

Shit, he really was fucked up. "Eric Northman, do not make me come after you, I am in too much pain to move right now. Stop being so melodramatic and while you're up please pass me my bag so I can take my painkillers." He did that, came back to the table and sat back down with yet another glass of whiskey. I reached into my bag and pulled out the bottle and took two before placing it safely back again.

"Sookie," his voice was strained. "Please, I can't do this. I fucked up, I slept with other women. Why are you even here? Why are you being so calm about this?"

"Eric, we aren't together any more. You can sleep with whomever you choose to." I softly pointed out, no matter how much it hurt me to say.

"You don't mean that. I know you, Sookie. I know that I have hurt you further. Stupid thing is, I don't even remember sleeping with the first one. When I woke up in bed with her, neither one of us remembering anything about the night before, I completely freaked out. I drank god knows how many bottles of whiskey that night, and then I went and did the same thing again, found some blonde who wasn't you to sleep with. It was horrible, I hated myself so much while I was with her. Fuck, Sookie, I am so sorry."

He buried his head in his hands on the table and sobbed gently. My own tears were falling as well as I moved my chair to sit closer to him.

"Eric I need to tell you something. The first woman you were with, I don't think that you did sleep with her. I think you both may have been drugged."

"By who? Who the fuck would have done that?"

"Bill." I felt almost sick mentioning his name.

Eric's face seemed to get even paler at the mention of his name. "How do you know that? I get that Bill lied about being with you, but you don't have to use him as an excuse on my behalf."

"Will you quit being so self-loathing. Eric, the reason I know is that he told me himself."

Eric's head snapped up to look at me. "What? When did you see him? Are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?"

I couldn't help the tear that fell as I thought back to the events of the previous day. "Okay, this is going to be tough to hear, but I need to say this." He nodded, but his face was apprehensive. "Yesterday your mom and dad took Oskar out as they had some errands to run. I was going to spend the say doing my physiotherapy exercises. As I was alone I took the opportunity for a swim, but I probably did too much and tired myself. When I got out of the pool I slipped and my leg gave way beneath me. That was when I did this." I pointed down at my leg in its cast, and shifted position so I could put my foot up on the chair beside me. "My leg was bleeding pretty heavily and I could not move as I was in too much pain."

"Fuck, but you're okay now, you were found?" Eric asked, his anxiety clear on his face.

I sighed. "I was found, just not by who I wanted. I'd actually passed out, probably from blood loss or something, but when I came to I discovered Bill sat beside me."

He looked horrified. "How the fuck did he know where you were?" Eric spat.

"I don't know, but he did know that your parents were out and would not be coming back for some time. And he also knew that you were in New Orleans, and that you had slept with someone." Eric was silent for a few moments as I let him process that information. "So, I'm assuming he must have had something to do with it since he knew that information."

"But I still slept with the second girl though."

He had done, and that thought killed me. "Why?" I asked softly, "why did you sleep with her?"

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. I knew it was wrong when I was doing it, but I so drunk I just … I don't know. I felt so guilty that I had cheated on you already, I guess I assumed it wouldn't make any difference if there was another girl. I'm sorry."

"Eric, as I said before, we're not together …" he cut me off.

"We may not be, but after thinking things through in Stockholm I made a decision to not fuck with you anymore, to not hurt you. I was going to let you get on with your life. I knew you didn't want me back after what I had done, and I realised that I didn't blame you for not wanting me back – I wouldn't have wanted me back either. I was going to let you call the shots of how much involvement I had with you and Oskar. I would have moved to New York to be close to you both, I would have done all that I could for you."

"Why past tense? What has changed?"

"Come on, Sookie. I fucked up yet again. I should never even have left you to gone to Stockholm let alone fuck someone else. I should have been here for you. Tell me what Bill did. I see the way you flinch when you say his name. Sookie, if he hurt you I swear I will rip him into pieces."

Eric was getting angry, though I knew it was the alcohol talking. If I was telling him this I hoped that he would not remember the next day. I was well aware that telling Eric that Bill nearly raped me could possibly destroy him.

"Sook, please tell me," his voice was softer this time.

"He held me down, threatened me. He told me I'd be going with him, that he would take me away."

"And?" Eric always could see through me at times.

I took a deep breath as the tears fell from my eyes. "He removed my bikini top and bottoms. He touched me, he …"

Eric drew me into his arms and wrapped them tightly around me rocking me gently. My revelation had sobered him and he gently stroked my back. This was the most contact I had had with Eric in sixteen months and I relished the touch of his skin against mine, his strong arms firmly wrapped around me. I felt safe in his embrace and I'd have happily not moved from that spot. When my breathing returned to normal he released me from his arms, but remained hold of my hands.

His own eyes gave away the tears he had shed, and before I knew what I was doing I was cupping his face in my hand and wiping away his tears with my thumbs. I withdrew my hands and placed them in my lap.

When our eyes met again, he asked, "Did he …?"

"No, he didn't get that far." Eric let out the breath he was holding and I saw the relief on his face.

"What happened?"

"The police showed up. Bill was shot in the leg as they arrested him. It seems Bill Compton was a wanted man. He was a known rapist and murderer in quite a few states and on the most wanted list." I laughed slightly. "I think we all had a lucky escape."

"How did the police know he was here?"

I was half tempted to lie to Eric, to make up some story about him being seen and followed by the local police. I didn't want to hurt Eric by telling him of Alcide's involvement.

"Sookie?"

"Do you remember I told you that I met a guy in a club one night back in New York?"

I could see the pain on Eric's face. "Yes, I do." His voice was sharp but tinged with sadness. I really did not want Eric to think that I was replacing him so quickly.

"Well, he was a detective working for NYPD and Amelia ran into him again last week. She has somewhat of a big mouth at times, and it seems she told him all about me, including how the psycho Bill Compton had driven me off the road and caused me to be injured in an accident. Alcide took it upon himself to do a background search after recognising the name and he realised that it was the same Bill Compton that they were looking for. Amelia was able to do a positive ID and Alcide came down here looking for him. They turned up just in time." I began sobbing again as Eric held my hands.

Neither one of us said anything for quite a while. Where the hell were we going to go from here? So much had happened over the last year and a half. We had broken up based on someone else's lies, I had discovered I was pregnant, Gran had died, I had a beautiful baby son and now the truth had come out and Bill was in custody after nearly raping me. I would have done anything to go back eighteen months so that none of this had happened.

We were interrupted by the sound of Oskar crying and I turned to see Isabel coming into the kitchen looking sheepish with Oskar in her arms.

"Sorry, Sook, he just won't settle. I think he wants his mom."

"That's okay. Come here little man." I took him into my arms and bounced him on my hip, cradling him in my arms. I sang softly to him and it didn't take too long for him to drift back to sleep. I knew he'd be best if he laid down in his bed, but I was hardly in a state to carry him.

"Eric, could you take him. I need to put him down for the night."

He smiled and took him gently from my arms. I stood slowly, grabbing my crutches and hobbled back to my room with Eric close behind me. Eric laid him down and tucked him. I sat down on the bed feeling quite tired myself.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked.

"I should be asking you that. At least you look better than you did earlier." He did, he looked more human now that we had cleared the air between us.

"I feel better. Thank you, Sookie. I think if you hadn't come back I think I would have fallen to pieces. I was in a dark place, I may not have survived."

I felt sick. "Eric, don't say that. Don't you ever say that." I was pleading to him, my eyes on his.

"It's the truth, Sookie. But it doesn't matter." I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. "When do you go back?" he asked in a quiet voice.

I opened my eyes as a tear escaped and looked up to him. "I don't know. Amelia has offered to drive me back if I'm not up to flying. It's going to be hard looking after Oscar in New York with my leg in plaster. We live in a huge four-storey town house, and there's eight steps just to get into the front door. I just worry if I go back to New York that I'll find myself stranded and depending on Amelia too much, though she's said she's quite happy to help me."

Eric laughed slightly. "She's not my biggest fan is she?"

I matched his laugh. "I guess not, but then she's never heard your side of the story. She found me when I was in such a complete mess after I fled Louisiana. She's only heard bad things about you, I'm afraid."

"She has no reason to like me, even after you left my behaviour towards you has been unforgivable. I truly do hate myself for the way I treated you, and I know that until the day I die I will never forgive myself or forget what I have done to you. And I don't expect you to forgive me. I just hope that you will be happy in the future whoever you are with and I hope that you will allow me to have some role in our son's life."

I could hardly speak for the tightness in my throat as he spoke, and I desperately wanted to tell him that with time I could and would forgive him, that I didn't want anybody else. I tried to get control of my breathing, but Eric had stood up and kissed me gently on the top of my head.

"It's been a long day, and we've both been through a lot. I'll leave you in peace and will see you tomorrow."

He left the room, shutting the door quietly as he went and I immediately collapsed into a ball of sobs. Did I want him back? I didn't know, but to me he was ruling it out. I was quite certain that he thought he was doing it for my sakes, but did he not realise that he was the only one I had ever loved?

I got changed and crawled up into bed, not realising quite how tired I was until my head hit the pillow. I was vaguely aware that at some point when Oskar was crying someone came into my room to retrieve him, but I was too tired and exhausted to see who it was.

I was woken the next morning by Isabel gently knocking on the door and bringing me in a steaming hot cup of coffee and a few toasted bagels. I had never been used to breakfast in bed, but I was grateful to her.

"Where's Oskar?"

"Eric has him. He heard him crying earlier this morning so came in and got him. He truly loves that boy." She paused for a moment. "As he does you."

"I know," I said thoughtfully. "And I love him, but I don't know where to go from here. He was talking last night as if it was over between us, and suggested that it would be better for me if I were with someone else."

"Can you see yourself with anyone else?"

"Honestly, no. I never have done. Hell, I don't think I saw myself loving anyone other than Eric since I was twelve years old."

"He's afraid of hurting you more. This has changed him. He isn't the confident, happy go lucky Eric he used to be. You made him the person he was. All he wants is for you to be happy, and if that is at detriment to his own happiness then I think he would allow it."

"You think he's going to push me away for the sake of my happiness over his?"

"I think he will. He's going into himself. He needs you, he needs Oskar. I don't think he will ever truly be happy with anyone else, but he knows that this is his own fault. He knows that listening to Bill Compton was a huge mistake to make, and I don't think he'll ever forgive himself for the repercussions that have come from that."

I sat silently for a few moments thinking as I drank my coffee and ate my bagels. Isabel was still sat at the end of the bed looking equally thoughtful.

When I'd finished my breakfast she took the empty plate from me. "Amelia called earlier, she's arranged that the police officer should come around here now instead to talk to you. He'll be here in an hour and a half. Would you like me to help you shower?"

Alcide was coming to the house? Fuck. I didn't need Eric to be tortured more by Alcide being here. I was going to kill Amelia. I agreed to Isabel's help and I washed as best as I could before getting dressed and drying my hair. It had taken longer than expected to get ready and was surprised to see that Alcide and a female officer who was introduced as Maria were being let into the house by Eric.

"Sookie, how are you?" Alcide was being more familiar than a police officer would necessarily have been, and I couldn't help but notice Eric flinch as Alcide greeted me.

I decided to try and keep it formal. "I'm fine, thank you detective."

I couldn't help but compare the two men as they stood side by side. Eric was slightly taller, but Alcide had wider shoulders and seemed stockier than Eric, who was more slender. They were both handsome men, Alcide with his very dark brown hair and green eyes and then Eric, his beautiful sapphire eyes and shoulder-length blonde locks tied tightly back, but with the usual pieces falling forward.

My thoughts were interrupted by Isabel coming into the hallway with Gustaf and handing Oskar to Eric.

"We're going out for a bit, anything you two need?" She looked at both Eric and I who declined her offer, and she smiled as she left. I didn't know if it was a deliberate move on Isabel's part, but seeing my son in Eric's arms instantly made me favour him of the two men that were before me.

"Please, come on through. Can I get anyone a drink?" Eric was playing host and ushered the three of us into the den. He took drinks orders and came back with them for the three of us having put Oskar down for his nap. I could tell that Eric was eyeing up Alcide, and I wondered what was going through his head. Was he considering whether Alcide would be good for me?

"Sookie, I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

He went to leave and I noticed a brief triumphant smile on Alcide's face, but before I could call Eric back he'd disappeared at lightning speed out of the room.

I sat down feeling a little upset that this was hurting Eric, but I recounted my story of what happened with Bill to Alcide and Maria as they asked my questions, the whole thing being recorded. When they had finished with the interview I noticed that Maria looked over at Alcide and she excused herself leaving only Alcide and I in the room.

He turned back to me once alone. "Are you okay, Sookie? This must have been an awful couple of weeks for you."

"It's certainly been tough. I want to thank you again for realising who Bill was. You're obviously a great detective." I smiled at him.

"Ah, you know, you just get a bit of a sixth sense about some things, just trust your instincts. As I knew that when I met you in that club that we could be good together."

Whoa, he was being far to familiar for my liking, and he moved from the seat opposite to sit next to me of the sofa, taking my hand in his.

"When you get back to New York I'd really like to see more of you. I'd like to take care of you and your son if you would let me. I know we don't know each other well, but I really feel like there is something between us." He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

This was way too much. I was not ready for any kind of relationship and Alcide was going way too fast. I also couldn't believe that he would have the cheek to do this in Eric's own home. I heard a noise in the doorway and saw the quickly retreating form of Eric leaving the room.

"Eric," I called and grabbed my crutches trying to go after him. When I got to the door of the room Eric was no where to be seen. I leaned against the door frame and looked back to Alcide.

"I think you should go." I said, sharply.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. I shouldn't have been so familiar with you. It was disrespectful, forgive me." He did look shamed, though I couldn't help but feel he probably could get into trouble for flirting with a witness on a case.

I showed him out and watched as he got into the driver's side of the waiting car and drove off. I turned back into the house. I'd not seen his face, but I was certain that Eric would have been seriously hurt by seeing Alcide take my hand like that and speak those words to me. I was annoyed that he had done that, and I was pissed off at Amelia for changing the time and location of my meeting with the police. I had originally planned to go to Shreveport police station to give my statement.

Eric was no longer in the kitchen, so I hobbled towards his room. The door was ajar and I knocked gently before pushing the door open. Eric had his back to the door and was throwing clothes into a duffel bag.

"I'm sorry, Eric." I said, his back still to me. He moved into his en-suite bathroom to get something not making indication that he'd acknowledged me. As I suspected, he was hurt. He thought I'd be so quick to move on.

"Eric!" I called when he didn't come out of his bathroom. When I heard the sound of a shout and a smashing sound I moved as fast as I could to the bathroom. Eric was stood by the sink with a bleeding hand, the mirror in front of his cracked where he had obviously punched it. I looked up to his face to see his handsome features tortured with pain.

"Oh, Eric. I'm sorry, I didn't want him to do that, I promise you. I didn't want anything from him before and I certainly don't now. And I'm certainly not ready to move on from you. I don't think I ever will be."

He simply looked at me with pained eyes. I took his bloody, cut hand and held it under the cold water to wash the blood away and any shards of glass. He winced slightly as I checked that all the glass was gone, and when happy I turned that water off.

"Come, help me back to the kitchen."

With his good hand he supported me as I limped to the kitchen. I told him to sit down as I went to the drawer to get the first aid kit that Isabel had told me about. I carefully wrapped Eric's hand after cleaning his wounds further and removing a little glass with tweezers that had not been washed off.

He still hadn't said anything. "Eric, please, I'm sorry. Please talk to me."

Still staring at his hands on the table he said: "You don't have to be sorry. I know that you will move on. Beautiful women like you don't stay single for long. I'm sorry I reacted like that, I had no right. I'm going to go back to my apartment, though if you'll let me I'd still like to come over and see Oskar. Stay here as long as you want to, I know my parents love having you here, and you'll be able to recover much easier here then you would in New York. I want you to be happy."

"You don't want to see me?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Sookie, I am no good for you. I have done nothing but hurt you. I don't want to stand in the way of you being happy. I want to do at least one thing right by you."

"We had six years together! Does that not count for anything?" How could he only focus on the bad times when we had so many great times together.

"Of course it does. Those will always be the best six years of my life. But I fucked it up. I didn't trust you. And I know that once lost your trust can never be regained. I truly am sorry, but I know we will find a way to work this between us in time. I want you to be happy, I just know that I am not the man to do that any more."

He got up and left the table as I sat sobbing quietly, my heart breaking within my chest. I understood that I wasn't ready to move on yet. Sure it had been nearly a year and a half since Eric and I were last together, but it has only been a few weeks since our talk by the lake. But did I ever want to get over Eric? I still loved him with all my heart even after we had been through everything.

In that instant I decided I didn't want to go back to New York and I was not going to let Eric go. I could hear that he was coming out of his room, so I moved as quickly as I could into the hallway and blocked his path out of the house, placing my hand on his chest as he tried to step past me. I could see that he had shed further tears and I took the bag out of his non-injured hand.

"Don't go. I don't want you to go. I want you. I love you."

"Sookie, I …"

"Stop talking. We have been through so much together, hell, we didn't even get together in normal circumstances. I have known you as long as I can remember and I think I have loved you for all that time. It is going to be tough, but I don't think we should give up on us this so quickly. We need to work through this. Can we try and make this work? We have a beautiful son together, I want him to have two parents. Can we do this?"

Eric was smiling at me in such a genuine heartfelt way. "It is I who should be asking you that. But can you forgive me for what I have done?"

I took a deep breath. "I want to. I'm not saying this is going to be easy, and you're right that neither one of us will forget what occurred between us, but I know you are not wholly responsible for what happened."

"You're really willing to give me another chance?" His face looked so hopeful I could not help the big grin that appeared on my own.

"Yes. I love you, Eric. I always will. I don't think I can do this without you. I was hurting so much being away from you."

"Well that's probably because I hurt you." His face was suddenly sombre again.

"No, it wasn't just that. I missed you, I missed being with you. That in itself hurt."

"But at the lake you said …"

"I was hurt. But the simple fact is that I cannot see myself with anyone other than you."

"Alcide didn't seem to think so." He said bitterly.

"Yeah, well, he can think what he likes. To be perfectly honest, him kissing my hand in the way he did only made me realise more that it was you that I wanted."

He smiled again and leaned down, kissing me softly on my cheek. "I love you, Sookie. I promise I will not hurt you and I will not run from you ever again. I know that I will have a lot to do to regain your trust, and we will do this at your pace. And I'm still happy to go back to my apartment for now to give you your own space …"

"Don't be ridiculous. This is your family home. You live here."

"Maybe, but I don't have a job here any more since I quit my position in Dad's business to go travelling."

I'd completely forgotten that Eric had been due to leave Louisiana before I saw him again that night in Merlottes. "I'm sure Pam could find you a role," I said with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet. I'll be cleaning toilets to no end!"

We both laughed and he wrapped his arms around me. I buried my head into his strong chest and breathed in his scent. As we pulled apart I could see the love in Eric's eyes and I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him softly on the lips. He seemed slightly shocked at my move, but pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss. The feel of his lips against mine was incredible and we soon fell into our old rhythm, our tongues dancing softly together as my hands roamed around his strong back.

We were interrupted by the twin sounds of Oskar waking up and the door opening behind us as Isabel and Gustaf walked in. We pulled apart and I span around to witness the look of sheer joy on Isabel's face which was impossible to miss. I also saw Gustaf wink at his son, and I'm certain that Eric would have had beaming behind me.

"Eric, what have you done to your hand?" Isabel scolded.

"Nothing, I …"

"Never mind. You two go and tend to your son, it sounds like someone might need seeing to."

Eric helped me walk back to my room where Oskar was wriggling in his cot. Eric lifted him out and it was plainly obvious that our boy needed changing.

"Oh, I certainly think it's your turn!" I said laughing.

"Well, yeah, but I have a bad hand, and I wouldn't want to hurt it further." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, whose fault was that! Get and change him, you have six months of diapers to catch up on and you can start now."

"Gladly," he said, kissing me softly on the head before settling down to change our son.


	10. Chapter 10

_A really mixed reaction to the last chapter and whether Sookie should forgive Eric, but thank you all for yourcomments and reviews._

* * *

Eric and I spent a lot of time talking about the past year and half over the next few weeks. We had a lot of catching up to do, and needed to get to know each other again. He spent as much time with Oskar as he could, and I could see that the little man was becoming very fond of his dad. It also gave me time to fully recover, both mentally and physically from what had happened – seeing Eric, the crash, hurting my leg again and then the Bill incident. After talking it through, Eric had decided it was a good idea for him to move out of his parents place back into his own apartment, and I also intended to go back to Gran's farmhouse once I was strong enough and I could manoeuvre around on my own with Oskar.

Amelia hadn't been impressed with my intentions to stay in Louisiana and we had a huge row as she repeatedly reminded me of how Eric had a tendency to let me down and run from me and his son whenever things got bad. I understood completely that she was very true on the points she made, and it was probably that reason that Eric and I were taking things as slowly as we were, but the fact was that I still loved him and I didn't want to rule anything out. Amelia eventually went back to New York without me, though made quite the point of telling me in front of Eric that my room was still available and that I had developed a great job and role for myself in New York.

I had contacted Alcide a week or so after seeing him in Eric's parents house for the police interview. He was incredibly apologetic for being so forward with me, and I think he understood that him being the way he was with me was one of the reasons that I did decide to give it another chance with Eric. Maybe if he hadn't been so pushy we may have slowly developed in to a relationship, but instead I was doing just that with Eric.

Alcide had updated me on the situation with Bill however. There was every likelihood that Bill was going to spend the rest of his days in prison, and if they pinned the convictions on him that they wanted to it was likely he may even find himself on death row. I wasn't a huge fan of the death penalty, but I hoped that he would have a long time to ponder the crimes he had committed. I knew that in comparison, his lying to Eric about me cheating on him was insignificant to what he even tried to do to me and did do to many other women, but it was what had left much deeper scars on my soul, and I wanted him to repent for his sins.

I had told Eric what Bill had told me – that he used to watch us as children. Eric admitted that he did know there was a child staying with old Mr Compton, but never knew any details and only saw him once or twice. He too had no idea that the old man was so cruel to his grandson, and we both agreed that it was not really a surprise that Bill turned out the way he did. In some ways it was good that we had some kind of explanation to the reasons behind Bill's behaviour, and it made things easier when we talked about what happened.

Eric and I had not kissed again since the day I decided not to go back to New York, and I was grateful for the respect that he was showing me. The only time we ever spent together was when we were alone with Oskar or with his parents and sister, and we would just sit and chat like old times. We filled each other in on the time we had spent apart, although it was painful at times, and we were both hurting at some of the revelations that were made. I knew that Eric was truly sorry for what happened to the point of being self-loathing, which did annoy me at times. He had fitted back into work okay, though I could tell he was not settled as he was too focused on what I wanted to do: whether I wanted to stay in Louisiana or move back to New York.

We hadn't really spoken about our futures, more talking through what had gone on between, what had gone wrong. Well, that is what the therapist had told us to do. It was Amelia's idea to seek therapy when I told her that I wasn't going back to New York and wanted it. I think initially she may have meant it as a snide remark, but as we chatted she convinced me that Eric and I going to therapy was a good idea if we did intend to give us another go. He was initially reluctant, though tried his best not to let on to me that he didn't like the idea and went along with it. But after seeing Dr Brigant a couple of times a week we both made revelations about our past relationship, ourselves and each other. We realised that not only did we have to put Oskar first, but that we must listen to each other more and not blame ourselves for events in the past.

The more time we spent with each other talking things through the more we both seemed to be getting back to the old times, our old selves before Bill Compton turned up in Bon Temps. Eric was more confident, his humour had returned and I swear he somehow was better looking. Not only had he started going back to the gym, but he just somehow seemed happier in himself which almost made him glow. He told me that I seemed happier as well, I had my beautiful baby son who was surprising and challenging me every day, and I had started writing a few columns for the Shreveport paper along with an on-line blog that was doing very well. I was also batting around some ideas for a novel that I was considering writing.

After six weeks I was very relieved when I got to back to the hospital to have my cast removed. My leg was very tender and sore underneath, and Eric had to hold my hand as they rubbed all manner of creams and potions into the damaged skin. I again saw the physiotherapist who gave me some exercises to increase the strength in my leg, and I would still need the crutches, at least at first until I could walk on it properly. But at least this meant I could have a proper shower of bath without having to worry about getting the cast wet. I'd been told right at the start that I was going to have some pretty horrific scars of my leg, and I couldn't hold back the tears when I did get to have a look at the damage to my leg. I'd always been fond of wearing skirts, dresses or shorts, but now I'd be much more inclined to wear pants or jeans to cover up the scar. Eric was kind, telling me that after a while the scar would fade and no one would notice, and that may be case, but it was a physical scar that was always going to remind me of Bill Compton and what happened between Eric and I.

A couple of weeks after that I was able to walk on my leg okay so I took the opportunity to move back to Gran's farmhouse. I could tell that Isabel and Gustaf didn't want me to leave, and that they'd become quite accustomed to having Oskar and I around, but I wanted to give them space as well as reassert my own independence. Eric was on hand to help me settle in and helped me clean the house from top to bottom without complaint – which was very unlike him as he'd always hated cleaning. It was another example of just how hard he was trying. I was hoping that if things did return to normal between us he wouldn't go too far back the other way, but I was thankful to him for helping me out and making such an effort.

Our therapy sessions had continued, and Dr Brigant seemed happy with our progress of talking through and exorcising our past demons. He'd warned us at the end of our last session that he wanted to do something a bit different with us at the next session, but he did not elaborate further.

As I was still unable to drive, Eric picked Oskar and I up from the farmhouse before we dropped Oskar off with Isabel and driving to Shreveport to meet with the therapist. We made idle chit chat in Eric's Escalade – he had finally realised that the corvette was not the most practical car for transporting a child around so had given in and bought the SUV, though he still drove the corvette if he was not on child-minding duties.

We arrived a little early at the doctor's office so took a seat in the waiting room. I mindlessly picked up a magazine and began leafing through the pages, Eric doing the same. As I looked up at the clock on the wall behind the receptionist to see how long we had to wait, it did not escape my attention that the annoyingly attractive brunette receptionist had not taken her eyes off Eric, and was very obviously giving my man an eyefuck. My man? Since when did I start to become so possessive. This was not something I had noticed before.

The receptionist stood up when the doctor's door opened and as the couple came out of the office, she walked over to us in her short skirt and killer heels – still only looking at Eric – and told us that we could go in. To his credit, Eric seemed completely oblivious to the attention she was giving him, engrossed in an article about some Swedish car, but I just wanted to smash her tall, attractive, skinny features into the nearest cement mixer.

I couldn't help the scowl on my face as we sat down in the office.

"Everything okay, Sookie?" the annoying perceptive doctor asked.

Eric turned to me with a surprised expression on his face. I did my absolute best to smile sweetly, but all I could think about were increasingly sadistic and tortuous methods of murder that I could use against the woman out there. Before I knew it I had clenched my jaw and fists, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

"Fine," I spat. Eric's expression was completely bemused as he truly had not idea what I was pissed off about.

"You don't seem fine, is something the matter?" the doctor asked with a slight smile.

"You should get yourself a better class of receptionist. You're meant to be a relationship counsellor and having her out there is not going to help you. Unless of course you're looking for additional revenue from having a receptionist that will split up couples as quickly as you put them back together." I was aware that I was being a complete bitch and ranting, but I could not stop myself.

"Eric?" the doctor asked.

"What? I can't say I noticed the receptionist. What did she do?" Eric's face was completely innocent.

"What did she do? The bitch couldn't keep her eyes of you. Seriously. This is meant to be a doctor's office not a nightclub, its not as if you're on display or anything."

"Why does that upset you, Sookie? You have said on many occasions that the two of you are not officially together, yet you have an extreme reaction when another woman pays attention to Eric."

I didn't know what to say. I was jealous, plain and simple. But why was I jealous? Eric and I hadn't committed to anything, we'd talked through the past but we always seemed to avoid talking about the future. Both Eric's and the doctor's eyes were upon me, and I suddenly felt very small and insecure.

"Well, I mean, the receptionist was staring at Eric, I don't think she even acknowledged my existence in the room, she couldn't take her eyes off him." My voice was small as I spoke.

"And that upsets you, that other women stare at Eric in that way?"

Damn straight. "I guess it does."

"Would you say that you felt jealous that she stared at Eric in that way, that you are possessive of him?"

"I …" I looked over at Eric who was smiling at me in a very self-satisfied way. He seemed to like the fact that I was jealous. "I guess so."

"And Eric, what do you feel about Sookie's reaction?"

"I like it that she is possessive of me."

What? "Why is that?" the doctor asked him for me.

"It shows that she has feelings for me still. I love her hugely, and I hate it when other men stare at her. It's nice to know she feels the same."

"Eric, no other men stare at me! I have to constantly battle off women whenever we go out in public together, its why I prefer to go out alone or stay at home with you."

Eric went to respond, but was stopped by the doctor. "Before you respond Eric, can you give me another example of when you have to 'battle off ' the other women, Sookie?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, the other day we both went shopping with Oskar, and Eric was carrying him. I had the shopping cart and went to pick up something I'd forgotten. By the time I got back he had three women fawning over him."

"They were looking at Oskar!"

"Like hell they were! Sure, they may have been using Oskar as an excuse, but I can assure you they were all over you like a rash." I could not help a frustrated tear from falling down my cheek, and Dr Brigant annoyingly gave me a tissue which alerted Eric to the fact that I was crying.

"Sookie, why are you so upset? Do you really think that other men don't find you attractive? And trust me, men can be so much more crude than pretending to look at our son. If I have to see another man leering at you or hear from another man how hot they think you are I may well have to kill them."

"Okay, you two. Before anyone does actually get murdered, I want to highlight the point that you are both getting jealous and possessive whenever anyone else is attracted to the other one of you even though the other is blissfully unaware of the attraction. To me that shows that you still have some underlying trust issues, both with yourselves and each other – and that is quite simply understandable. But it also tells me quite how much do love each other."

I knew that I still loved him, I hadn't stopped loving him despite everything that had happened. The bigger question was what was going to happen next, could we move on? I was very confused. I looked over to Eric who also seemed to be having the same internal debate.

"Okay, Sookie, Eric, I am going to ask you both a question, and I want you to simply answer yes or no." He looked at us both and I swallowed loudly. "Do you want to be together, do you want to work at your relationship going forward?"

"Yes." We both said simultaneously and both quite resolutely. We both then looked at each other and laughed.

Eric took my hand in his. "Sookie, I love you. I know that I have seriously fucked up time and time again, but I promise you that I will not do that to you again. But I don't expect you believe that straight away, that I must work to earn your trust and love, but I want more than anything for us to make a go of this, for you to let me regain that trust."

"Eric, you already have my love, you have always had my love. And I too want to make this work. I want to be with you, to spend time with you. It is going to be hard, and we will have to take our time with this. I want us to be great parents to Oskar. "

"That we will be, I'm sure of that." He smiled a heartfelt smile and brought my hand to his mouth to gently kiss the back of my hand.

"Okay, we have some progress. What I want you to do is date each other, spend the day out and about with your son, spend some time alone, go places together – movies, restaurants, theatre, anything. You need to reconnect on a much deeper level, and you need to make sure that you can do that. Fine, you still love each other, but this has changed you both and you will need to work at it."

For the remainder of our session that doctor talked us through some methods we could use to reconnect that didn't involve us jumping into bed at the earliest opportunity. I'm certain that it crossed both of our minds, but he was right in saying that we needed to take it slow, date each other and get to know each other. To basically fall in love with the other all over again.

As our session finished the doctor walked us to the door. We were the last couple of the day and the receptionist was still sat behind the desk doing her nails. I still wanted to rip her throat out for staring at Eric the way she did, so I chose to ignore her and immediately headed to the door. Dr Brigant stopped me, however.

"Sookie, Eric, I'd like to introduce you to my daughter, Claudine. She was in town and agreed to play the role of my receptionist today."

I was astounded. Eric smiled softly, taking my hand and kissing it, his eyes never leaving my own. He possessively wrapped his arm around me and we both turned to face the doctor and his daughter.

It was Claudine who spoke up. "Dad asked me to come here and flirt outrageously with Eric. He sometimes does it for couples who, quote, need a kick up the backside!" She certainly did kick us into touch, and I was grateful for Dr Brigant's unorthodox techniques. "However, I have to say that Sookie, you are much more my type than your boyfriend. No offence, Eric." She added quickly.

"None taken." He stated with a smirk and I elbowed him in the ribs knowing perfectly well what he was thinking off. He kissed the top of my head, pulling me closer to him. "You should meet my sister, she likes brunettes."

Pam had come out as a lesbian to her parents a few years earlier, fully expecting them to kick off, but they were very supportive of her and had always been pleasant to any of her girlfriends. We ended up taking Claudine's number for Pam, and we both had a feeling that the two of them would get along very well.

We drove back to Bon Temps in a comfortable silence and after picking up Oskar, Eric dropped me off at my house. He got out of his car and leaning on it as he watched me walk towards the house, Oskar's carry cot in my hand. I turned back to him, half expecting him to follow me in, but he obviously wasn't going to do anything without an invitation. I walked back over to him and took his hand.

"Come inside, I'll cook us dinner."

"Thank you."

He took the carry cot out of my hand to save my struggling and I led him inside. After feeding Oskar and putting him down for a nap, I knocked us both up a chorizo omelette with a simple side salad.

"I'd forgotten how much I loved your cooking. You look so at home in this kitchen."

He was right, I did feel at home. "It's weird that Gran isn't here. I really miss her. I can't help the feeling that Bill had something to do with her death. The man was such a psycho who knows what he may have done. I think she knew Bill was behind everything, but he had her really scared. I'm glad he's locked up, things could have been much worse."

Eric took my hand in his. "Quite right, what he did to us was bad enough, with you being hurt as well. But if I had lost you altogether I don't know what I would have done. Thank you for giving me this chance."

I simply smiled at him as we finished our meal. Afterwards we watched a bit of TV together, we'd sat down together on the couch, but were not touching each other. As time moved on we seemed to gravitate towards each other, and it didn't take long until I was nestled into Eric's side, his arm around me and my head on his shoulder. We sat in that position for quite a while until it started to get late and Eric announced that he was going home.

I got up and gave him my hand as he stood up. I led him to the doorway and he turned to me when we were stood on the porch.

"Thank you for a lovely evening. I'd love to take you out sometime, how about dinner and a movie?"

I smiled. "Sounds great as long as I can choose the movie!" Eric had appalling taste in films.

"Of course, the lady can choose the movie as long as I get to choose the restaurant."

I knew that it no doubt meant that Eric would find the most expensive place in town to take me. It had always annoyed me slightly that Eric would spend his money so freely on me, but I wasn't going to complain this time

"Okay, fine, you can choose the restaurant." He smiled triumphantly although I was secretly plotting to make him sit through a chick flick I knew he wouldn't like.

He still had hold of my hand and brought it to his lips to place a soft kiss on my hand. His lips were warm and soft and I could feel his breath on my hand. I couldn't help the slight moan that escaped my lips, and Eric looked at me with surprise before I took his hand to my mouth and returned the favour, giving his hand a slow lingering kiss. As soon as I moved his mouth away from his hand he pulled me close up against him and I almost felt myself melt into him as our bodies touched fully against each others. He had one hand on the small of my back pushing me into him and the other hand in my hair. His eyes were lust filled but seeking my permission before he went any further. I did just that by moving my hand up to his neck and pulling him down to me as I angled my mouth to accept his kiss.

It was passionate and needy, his lust becoming increasingly evident pushing into my belly. As we kissed our hands began to wonder over the other, re-familiarising ourselves with each other's bodies, my own hands finding their way to his beautifully toned ass and giving it a slight squeeze. Eric chuckled slightly before deepening the kiss and causing me to moan into his mouth. I was finding myself grinding my body into his, and despite myself I knew that right then I wanted him more than anything.

We were interrupted my Eric's cell phone buzzing in his jeans pocket and he apologetically reached down to his pocket and retrieved it while I stepped back a little feeling quite flustered. I couldn't help but feel that it was a good thing that we'd been interrupted as jumping back into bed so soon may not have been the best thing for our relationship. I looked up at Eric, and although I didn't want to be rude and listen in to his conversation, I could immediately tell that something was up.

"What happened, Pam … shit, is he okay? …. at Sookie's still … I'm on my way, tell Mom he'll be fine." He hung up and looked at me with panic in his eyes.

"Eric?"

"Dad had a heart attack. He's still alive but in intensive care, they're not sure if he's going to make it and he needs to have emergency surgery. I need to go to the hospital."

My heart broke for him and I could see the pain he was in. He looked so lost, not knowing what to do with himself. I knew I wasn't going to let him do this on his own, and right then I needed to take charge. Oskar's bag was still packed from his earlier trip to Isabel's, so I picked it up and placed it in Eric's hands.

"Go and get in the car, I'll get Oskar and you can drive us to the hospital."

"Sook, you don't have to …"

"Yes I do. They're my family as well, and I'm not going to let you do this on your own."

I gave him a slight push in the direction of the car and he got in while I quickly picked up Oskar locked up the house before securing him in the car. Our journey back to Shreveport was tense to say the least, and I placed my hand on his knee to try and keep him calm. It was plainly evident that he was doing all he could to keep it together, and I was determined to be strong for the both of us. He had always been very close to his parents, and after the way they had looked after me when I was recovering I was truly very grateful to them.

When we arrived at the hospital we were ushered towards the surgical wing where we met an equally worried looking Isabel and Pam. They were both on the verge of tears when we walked in and as they hugged Eric all three of them let go. I placed the sleeping Oskar on the floor in his carry cot and gently rubbed Eric's back as he hugged his mom and sister. When they were done with Eric both women hugged me in turn, thanking me for coming with Eric to support them. I went and got them all coffee while we waited in silence for the doctors to return with some news on Gustaf's condition.

It was a couple of hours later that the surgeon came in and informed us that Gustaf's surgery went well and he should be fine. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, and Isabel, Pam and Eric were allowed to go in and see him. They were told that only immediate family were allowed in, but I was more than happy to sit outside with Oskar. Eric was initially reluctant to leave me alone, but I informed him I was quite happy on my own with our son, and gave him a supportive kiss on the cheek before he went in.

As I sat in that waiting room I realised that I would do anything to make things work with Eric. Sure, we'd been through a hell of a lot together, but I still loved him as deeply as before and once we had worked through any remaining issues we had with trust we would be as strong as ever, if not stronger. I sat their silently praying that Gustaf would be okay; I wasn't ready to lose more family.

After a while the three of them came out of the room after being told by one of Gustaf's doctors that his condition was unlikely to change and that they should go home to get their sleep.

"How is he?" I asked as they came out all looking very tired and emotional.

It was Pam that found the strength to answer me. "He should be okay. The bypass surgery went well and he should make a full recovery."

Eric sat down heavily in the seat beside me and I took his hand in mine. "You should stay at your mom's tonight, it would be better if the three of you are together. I can get a taxi from here, and I'll …"

"No," Eric interrupted me. "I'll drive you back to your house before going back to mom's place. But you could come with me?" His eyes searched mine hopefully and I saw that he needed my support which I was more than willing to give him.

"Okay, if you don't mind driving past my house anyway so I can grab a change of clothes for Oskar and I."

We did just that and an hour later we were back the large Northman family home, although the mood was incredibly subdued. Pam and Isabel were still up when we arrived despite the late hour, and after seeing to Oskar I went and made us all mugs of hot chocolate which were appreciatively drunk all round.

Pam and Isabel excused themselves to go and try to get some sleep leaving Eric and I alone in the den.

"You should get some sleep as well, you look like shit." He really did, his face was drawn out and he had deep dark circles underneath his eyes.

"Thanks!" He managed a slight laugh. I got up and took his hand leading him towards his old bedroom. I stopped outside his room and leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek. He held on to my hand as I went to step away from him and looked earnestly into my eyes. "I don't want to be alone."

He looked so heartbroken that I could not refuse him. I knew nothing was going to happen between us, so I smiled and nodded to him before leading him into my room and closing the door silently behind him to not wake Oskar up. We both washed our faces and cleaned our teeth before I changed into a silk nightdress that had been the first thing I could find to grab when I packed earlier. It was skimpier then I necessarily would have liked considering I was not on intimate terms with Eric, but then I hadn't expected I'd be sharing a bed with him.

Eric had always been one to sleep in the nude so I was quite relieved that this time he left his boxer shorts on. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes away from his perfect body, but I was certainly struggling. We both crawled into bed and lay facing each other, but not actually touching.

"Thank you, Sookie. I just didn't think that I could be alone tonight."

"That's okay."

I placed my hand on his firm chest before I knew what I was doing. I could feel his heart beating strongly beneath my palm and he placed his own hand over mine. I was certain that my own heart had picked up speed. Eric placed his hand on the side of my face, gently stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"I love you, Sookie, I truly do."

"And I love you."

I scooted closer to him in the bed and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before I turned on my other side so my back was against his chest. Eric moaned into my shoulder as he wrapped his large frame around me, his erection digging into the small of my back. I tried my best to go to sleep and not to focus on the closeness of Eric, his erection, his warm breath against my shoulder and strong arms securely wrapped around my body, but I was struggling. I wriggled slightly to find a more comfortable position to sleep only for Eric to moan loudly into my ear as I obviously ground my butt into his still hard erection. God I wanted him, but this was not the time. I turned over in bed to face him again and put my hand up to his lips before he started to kiss me.

"Okay, Eric, I think it's going to be best if we sleep on our own sides of the bed. I want to be here for you, but this is not the time or place, and I think we might both regret it if we let this happen now."

"You're right, sorry." He did look sorrowful.

"Eric, I do want this, just not now and in these circumstances."

I kissed him softly on the forehead before moving over to one side of the bed while Eric did the same. I missed the closeness and fought the urge to go back and snuggle back up to him. Instead I just lied awake listening to him sleep as he snored softly. I don't think I got too much sleep, but when I did wake up Eric was stood at the far end of the room with Oskar in his arms playing with him gently.

"Hey. Have you spoken to your mom?"

"Yeah, she phoned the hospital ten minutes ago. He's okay and doing well. He needs to see the doctors this morning so we've been told to not go in until lunchtime. I'll go and get you some coffee."

He walked out with Oskar still in his arms and within a few minutes was back with a large mug of coffee which he handed to me as he climbed back into bed and placed Oskar on his knee facing us. If it wasn't for the fact that Gustaf was in hospital having had a serious heart attack the night before, I'd have considered that to be one of my favourite moments, but we were both painfully aware of the circumstances.

We sat in bed for a while chatting and playing with Oskar as he gurgled and talked back to us in his own way. I was so full of love watching Eric with him, and it only made me more determined to not ever let anything come between us. We both showered (separately) before heading into the kitchen where Isabel and Pam were sat talking quietly at the kitchen table. Pam smirked at us as we walked in, with a grin that was pure Eric, and we sat down for some cereal.

We all left the house in Eric's SUV around eleven thirty and arrived at the hospital around forty-five minutes later. We were all allowed in to see him this time, though had been told we must not do anything to upset or excite him as he was still fairly weak. Gustaf smiled at me as I walked in with Eric and his grandson, and we all talked softly.

I didn't see Eric for a few days after that as I let them have their family time, and I also had some work that needed doing, but I found myself really missing Eric. I picked up the phone to call him on so many occasions that I lost count, but I'd told him I'd give him space to be with his family and I think he was appreciative of that.

Gustaf had been discharged after a week, and Eric and I had arranged to go out on that dinner and movie that he had promised. Pam was babysitting Oskar for the night as Isabel was looking after her husband, so the two of us made arrangements to go into Shreveport for the night. It really did feel like a first date despite the length of time that I had known Eric and how long we were actually together.

I was feeling incredibly nervous as I showered and got ready. I was still reluctant to wear a dress or skirt because of the scar on my leg, but Eric has specifically asked that I wear one, so I was prepared to do that for him, although I was going to wear a pair of shear tights. He was the only one I wanted to impress anyway. I was ready by seven, dressed in a cute cobalt blue wrap around dress I had picked up on a recent trip to Shreveport, and was nervously pacing around the house waiting for Eric to arrive. At seven-thirty on the dot I heard his corvette drive up the newly gravelled drive. I was out of the house before he'd even got out of his car and I walked towards him with a huge smile on my face. He looked incredible dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and blue tie as he opened the passenger door for me.

We chatted on the journey to Shreveport as he told me that his Dad was doing well, although his mom was fussing over him. We'd given Pam Claudine's number and they had spoken on the phone a few times and were actually meeting the next day on a date of their own. Eric had refused to tell me where we were going, but I wasn't too surprised when we pulled up into the most expensive French restaurant in the Northern half of the state. I rolled my eyes at him as the valet came up to let us out of the car and drove it off to park, but not before Eric had threatened him with injury if the car had a scratch on it.

The meal was beautiful and we sat at a romantic secluded table near an open fire. I was grateful of the heat as the evenings were getting colder. After we ate our food Eric took my hand in his and looked me deeply in the eyes.

"I love you. I think I may have always loved you but I was too young and stupid to realise it earlier. I'm sorry if I ever upset you in those early days, and I hope that we will have a long and happy life together so that you will eventually forgive me for the wrongs that I have caused you."

I leaned in and kissed him softly on his mouth. "I love you to."

Eric continued. "And one day you will marry me, and hopefully we will have another son or daughter for Oskar to play with. I want us to be a happy family."

I had desperately wanted Eric to ask me to marry him before we had split up, and I had tried to drop the odd hint every now and again, but I always felt that it was something he didn't want. So to hear him say that made me almost burst with happiness. I kissed him again, this time harder on this lips and placed my hands into his hair as I moaned softly into his mouth. I pulled back before things got too heated between us in a public place and smiled at him.

"So, what film are we going to see?" he asked with a smirk.

I looked at my watch and realised that it was much later than I had anticipated and we would no doubt have missed the film.

"I think, Mr Northman, that we have may have missed the film. Can you think of anything we should do instead or should you just drop me home like the gentleman that you are." I raised my eyebrows at him and he kissed my hand again.

"Maybe we could go back to your house and watch a movie instead?" He had humour in his voice, but I think we were both thinking along the same lines.

When we arrived back in Bon Temps at my farmhouse I invited Eric in and grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge. I wasn't sure if it was a subconscious thing that Eric wouldn't be able to drive if he drank much more, but then I did have spare bedrooms if I didn't want him in my bed. Which I did, of course.

We sat down on the couch, me curled up into him with his arm tightly wrapped around me. I'd chosen to watch Dirty Dancing as I knew it would annoy him and I wanted to get him back for making sure that we missed the movie earlier. He'd rolled his eyes as I pulled the DVD out, and we sat and watched for the first thirty minutes before he started to distract me. He was nibbling gently at my neck, his hands rubbing my arms as he started to whisper things in Swedish to me in my ear. I had no idea what he was saying and he could have been reciting the dictionary for all I knew, but I was certainly starting to get very hot and bothered.

Sensing my reaction to him he upped his game, placing his hand on my thigh and rubbing little circles with his thumb. I was seriously losing concentration on the film (even though it was my favourite of all time) and thinking only of the places that were red hot from the contact with Eric. After about ten minutes of that I could take it no longer. I got up with a sudden movement and walked away from him. When I looked back his expression was one of hurt and confusion, but I simply winked at him and beckoned for him to follow me. He was up with a start and followed me to my bedroom.

I stood in the centre of the room and when Eric approached me I reached up and removed his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt, my hands not touching his body as I did so. His gaze was intense with lust as he looked down on me as I pulled his shirt off before starting on his belt. Eric had started panting slightly as I pulled his belt out from his trousers and dropped it on the floor. He gasped further as my hands went to his pants and undid them slowly, my eyes on his the whole time. I had a little difficulty undoing his fly as his erection was straining against the fabric, and he moaned loudly as I slowly undid the zip. He shook himself out of the trousers and stepped out of them, his hands heading towards me.

"No," I whispered, my voice shaking slightly. "Watch me."

He stood still where he was as I stepped back from him and untied my dress before slipping it off. I took off my tights and stood in front of him in only my underwear. This time I was unable to stop Eric's advances and quite simply didn't want to. He pulled me close to him and pressed his hard body against mine. His mouth crashed into mine and we quickly fell into a familiar rhythm. Our remaining underwear was quickly lost and I pulled him onto the bed.

"Sookie, are you sure you want this?" Eric asked as he pulled away from me momentarily.

"Eric, I have never wanted anything more. Except maybe that first time we were together. But I want this. I need this."

"Fuck, I want you so bad."

He went to kiss me again, but I pushed him back.

"I've been on birth control for a month or so now, are you clean?"

He looked a little sheepish as we both thought back to when he was drunk in New Orleans. "Yes, I was surprisingly cautious enough to use a condom on that occasion, but I was tested a few weeks later, and I'm clean."

"Good."

I pulled him to me on the bed, our hands and mouths hungrily devouring each other. His hands were everywhere except the one place I wanted them. His mouth was swapping between my breasts causing me unimaginable pleasure, but his hands were still avoiding the place I wanted him to touch me. "Eric, please," I moaned as I writhed in pleasure underneath him. He chuckled slightly before moving a hand down to my sex and rubbing a finger along my area to test my wetness.

"So wet, Sookie," he moaned into my neck and he plunged one long finger into me as I cried out in pleasure, he soon added another one and started rubbing my nub softly with his thumb as his fingers continued to move in and out of me, or curling upwards to rub that magical area deep within me. With his mouth he was kissing, nibbling and licking at my neck and mouth as my release got ever closer. My orgasm seemed to spring from nowhere and I let out a guttural moan from deep within my throat as my body ascended to heaven for a few moments.

Eric lazily kissed my neck while I was on my high, and when I regained enough composure I turned back to him and kissed him hard on the mouth, my hand reaching for his rock hard penis and giving him a gentle rub. I made moved to scoot down his body but he stopped me.

"I'm too close, I want to be inside you."

I simply nodded and rolled onto my back to allow Eric to climb on top of me. He positioned himself at my entrance and kissed me softly on the lips, his eyes seeking my permission before we reconsumated our relationship. I kissed him harder in response and it was all he needed as he gently pushed into me. It had been a long time since Eric and I had been together, and it took a few goes for Eric to be fully sheathed inside me, but when he was I finally felt complete again. I had missed him so much, and reconnecting like this was exactly what we needed. I was floating on cloud nine when he started to move inside me, his strong arms and shoulders rippling and straining above me as I held onto him for dear life. The love I felt for him was growing within my soul and I wanted to never be away from him again. It didn't take long before I was again very close to my peak and as Eric sweated and strained above me I reached my second orgasm of the night and he finally let go with an almighty and feral roar.

He collapsed on top of me and I enjoyed his weight on me. "Sorry," he whispered into my ear.

"What for?" I asked, kissing his neck.

"Well, that wasn't exactly my greatest showing. Next time I will last much longer than that."

I knew perfectly well how long that man could last, and I looked forward to it greatly, but that had been needy and lust driven, neither one of us were going to last long.

"There will be many next times, Eric." He smiled into my eyes and we began kissing each other softly as we lay facing each other on our sides. "Marry me."

I had no idea where that came from, and I think I may have been almost as surprised as Eric was.

"Yes," was his instant response and we just stared at each other, both a little shocked. "You really want this?"

"More than ever. I always wanted to marry you before we split, and now I know that I want no other. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to grow old with you. I love you."

"As I love you, my love. I promise you that … "

I stopped him. "Don't say it. I know that you are sorry for what happened, but we need to move on. I forgive you. I love you. And I want to be with you forever. I want our happily ever after."

"As I do, too."

We made love twice more that night before I fell asleep in his arms feeling happier than I ever had.

* * *

_Okay, so that kind of is the end. However I am going to write an epilogue at some point from Eric's point of view._

_I know its been a tough ride, but thank you for coming along for that ride with me._

_I plan to start another fiction very shortly (read tonight or tomorrow) which will be AU - so vampires and telepaths but a very differnt scenario - so stick me on Author Alert if your interested, which I hope that you are!_

_Thanks again for all your reviews._


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